Gatsberry's Admin
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The best thing about life is you never know what might be coming next
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Post by Eric Davenport on Jun 27, 2017 23:54:43 GMT -6
Eric had just woken up, the sunlight coming in through his window signaling that it was well into the morning, having slept in several hours past his usual routine. He loved days like this when he had a day off from teaching and could take a break to enjoy everything instead of having to rush back and forth between class hours.
Stepping into the bathroom for a quick soak, he leaned his back against the tub as he let the water relax him. He wasn't looking too forward to the mountain of essays he had to read through, but at least he could take some time doing it today. Plus, as far as he knew, it wasn't all too bad of a day so far; he just hoped that same positivity would carry through. Living in Gatsberry, something always seemed to be happening every time he turned around - usually not-so-great things, being that it was a town ruled by the mafia's own Don Korso.
If Eric was honest, he didn't like Korso or what his followers were doing. But he tolerated it to a point, since his hometown was an absolute wreck only a few years ago before the Marcello family took the lead. Believing it was the best action for the majority of the population at the time, he had went along with the plan, offering his teaching services at the university he helped build up and maintain with a few other gentleman. Though now, as he looked around at the free-spirited chaos around him, he wasn't quite sure what was good for the citizens of Gatsberry anymore: gun fights, murder, crime, and all sorts of dark presences now looming over the town.
Frowning a little at the thought, he continued to rub at his skin until he was satisfied with the job. Once finished, he drained the tub and stepped over towards the door, grabbing the towel hanging from the doorknob, and wrapped it around his waist as he headed into the kitchen to make a late breakfast while his hair dripped along the carpeted living room.
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Gatsberry's Admin
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I'll practically do anything to get the next big story.
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Post by Arista Madison on Jun 28, 2017 0:25:03 GMT -6
Arista had been at the newspaper later than she should have been the night before. It wasn't until Nathan came in that morning and told her to go home that she realized how long she had been out. She had been lucky that nothing happened while she was still at the office.
If I didn't die, Eric would have killed me! she thought.
She had been working on her latest story while making sure it would actually pass the editor's approval. Another shooting had happened and it had been rumored that it was one of the old gangs that was trying to rise up again. All her investigating and probing had proven that it was just another set of scums.
Which made her story uninteresting.
She had to go back and rework so much to try and get something that might possible make it into the paper this time.
Then she overheard about a body. No ID, nothing, at least nothing that she had found out. The location of the body was still up in the air and it could turn out to be nothing, just one of the homeless that had finally got to the grand finale of their bad luck...
Or, it could be something.
Arista arrived back at the apartment complex and, instead of going to her own apartment, she went straight to Eric's. Her curly blonde hair had been thrown up in a messy bun and her makeup had long since faded away. But she didn't care however and Eric had seen her looking worse.
Fishing out her copy of his apartment key, Arista unlocked the door and walked in without knocking. It had been something she had done a hundred times and knew he never cared or at least he never said he cared.
Figuring he was up and already grading papers, Arista felt she was going to be saving him from boredom for a little while as she kicked off her heels at the door.
She walked further into the apartment as she looked down at her notes in her notebook. "Eric! Put down the essays! I've got this huge story in the works-" When she finally looked up she stopped in her tracks when she saw a mostly naked man standing in her best friend's kitchen. "Um..."
Her eyes scanned the towel clad body before reaching familiar hazel eyes. Her tired mind finally made the connection that the naked and damp man standing in her best friend's kitchen was her best friend.
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Gatsberry's Admin
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The best thing about life is you never know what might be coming next
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Post by Eric Davenport on Jun 28, 2017 0:53:32 GMT -6
Eric hadn't even heard the front door open, let alone the soft padding of feet crossing the doorway. That is, until he heard Arista call out from the open living room's entrance and nearly making him jump out of his skin a little in the process.
Thankfully, at the moment, he wasn't in the middle of holding or cooking anything, though the sight of his best friend now standing in front of him and staring at his half-naked self wasn't exactly the most ideal situation in the first place. Especially since it wasn't exactly something that had happened before when she had come by to visit him many times prior.
"A-Arista," he said as he immediately moved his hands towards the knot holding up his towel, keeping it in place as he felt the blood racing towards his cheeks. It wasn't like he minded her coming over to his apartment unannounced; after all, he had made her a key so that she could come and go as she liked. But usually he was up by that point in the morning, dressed and ready to go.
And this wasn't one of those moments.
Feeling embarrassed, he averted his gaze from her as he slowly made his way towards the bedroom. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting...," he began looking at the papers in her hand before raising his eyes up towards her own. "Let me go put something on really quick. Then you can tell me all about it!"
He crossed over towards the door to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him as he went to open the dresser. The mirror hanging over the wooden chest didn't exactly help either, as it showed his face in a nice shade of pink that definitely stood out against his white skin devoid of any shirt to help cover it up.
At least I was wearing a towel, he thought as he sighed, letting the heat in his cheeks slowly start to lower.
Putting on his underwear, a pair of pants, and one of his button-up shirts, he walked back out into the living room where Arista was waiting, an apologetic smile on his face.
"Sorry about that, 'Penny'," he said as he sat on the couch, his fingers running through his damp hair. "I slept in a little later than usual. Work's got me beat with all those essays." He rolled his eyes playfully and grinned at her, letting his hair fall back into its messed-up state. "So what is this huge story you have in the works? Stay late at the office again?" He said the last part in a lighthearted, teasing manner, knowing fully well how dedicated she was to getting her big break in the newspaper office. It was one of the things he admired most about her.
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Gatsberry's Admin
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I'll practically do anything to get the next big story.
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Post by Arista Madison on Jun 28, 2017 1:24:59 GMT -6
Arista felt herself flush when she realized she had been staring at him. "U-um, clearly..." she mumbled as she watched him walk.
When she realized that she was staring again, she felt herself flush more as she quickly looked back up at his face. She saw him look at her notebook before he said she could tell him all about what she was working on once he had something on. A smile lit her face. "Hurry up then!" she laughed teasingly as she moved to the armchair in the living room.
Once the door clicked shut, she let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Arista, this is Eric! You're tired... it's been a long night. she reminded herself when her mind wanted to think back to how he looked. ...When did he get so fit? He used to be a scrawny thing when we were kids... she silently wondered before hearing the door open once more.
She turned in her chair and leaned against the back of it as she watched him walk back in. An instant grin came on her when he called her by the childhood nickname. "Oh please, I'm a big girl, Eric," she joked, even though she hadn't ever seen a naked man before, though not counting her father, 'cause father's don't count. "I've always told you that you give too many essay assignments," she teased lightly as she turned forward in her seat. "Though, I mostly said that because I was thinking about those poor kids, buuut seems you're the one getting hit hard now," she stated as she stood and joined him on the couch.
Tucking her feet under her with her notebook in her lap. "Eric, my boy, I'm glad you asked!" she said before realizing he also asked if she stayed late at the office again. A nervous laughter left her. "Uh, it's a possibility... Totally not my fault though, last story I had going was trash," she said with a groan, leaning her head back on the couch. "Had to follow up on a last minute story to help make up for it."
Turning back to him, she giggled a little at his messy wet hair. "You'd make your female students pass out if you walked into class like that," she teased, knowing he had a couple of girls that had a crush on him.
"Aaanyways, my new story involves a body!" she said excitedly, bouncing a little on the couch. "No ID or anything, and I'm waiting for them to let me actually interview the officers that are doing the investigation, but-- if my sources are good-- then it's a murder! If i'm lucky it's not one that was actually Marcello's doing!" Her eyes lit up at the thought, not because someone had been found dead, but because if she got the story first it might just be her big break.
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Gatsberry's Admin
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The best thing about life is you never know what might be coming next
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Post by Eric Davenport on Jun 28, 2017 2:22:13 GMT -6
Eric had to laugh at her essay comment; as always, she was totally right. And in all honestly, the idea of lessening his workload did sound great in his opinion, so long as the education board was alright with it. He wasn't quite sure how the essays were helping all that much anyway, since most of the work he had turned in to him were enormously rushed.
"I'll have to remember that," he said brightly as he waited for her to continue with her story, watching her take a seat next to him on the couch. She had even tucked her feet in underneath her, notebook in her lap: a definite sign that this would be an interesting enough story.
No stopping her now, he laughed inwardly as he watched the excitement well up in her copper-colored eyes. When she got started on something, there was never any stopping her.
"Eric, my boy, I'm glad you asked!" she exclaimed, before giving him a nervous laugh at his office comment. "Uh, it's a possibility... Totally not my fault though," she continued as she laid back on the couch, groaning. Eric merely laughed at her quick retaliation, already guessing what she was about to say. "Last story I had going was trash. Had to follow up on a last minute story to help make up for it."
He nodded slowly, thinking about all the times she had come close to making a break through before reaching a dead end and having to start all over again. It was the struggle with working in Gatsberry, where the criminals were usually so good at covering up their tracks that it was almost impossible to pin any crimes down on them. It made doing detective work - and journalism - almost impossible with the exception of rumors and gossip columns.
He gave her a quick smile though, resting his arm against the edge of the couch as he listened. "Don't worry about it," he said with a grin, giving her a playful nudge. "You'll throw that Mister Noira a story so big, he'll have no more excuses to keep ignoring you like he has." Getting up from the couch, he headed towards the kitchen to grab a few glasses, filling them up with some water while Arista continued to talk from the living room.
"Aaanyways," she continued, bouncing a little from the excitement, "my new story involves a body!"
Eric raised an eyebrow in hopeful surprise. "Oh?" he asked. He hoped that it wasn't a dead end like the other bodies that had shown up on the streets - their numbers getting larger every day.
"No ID or anything," she continued, "and I'm waiting for them to let me actually interview the officers that are doing the investigation, but-- if my sources are good-- then it's a murder!" Her eyes lit up, the excitement clear in her voice. "If I'm lucky it's not one that was actually Marcello's doing!" Her eyes were dancing by this point, and Eric couldn't help but grin back at his best friend in return.
"That's great, Penny!" he exclaimed, feeling excited for her. He sincerely hoped her news would go through successfully; it was about time she found an interesting story to chase - though he hoped and prayed it wasn't going to get her into any more trouble. He had already been down that road enough times, running her down before she ran out into the middle of a tussle. "Any information you've gotten about the body yet? Where was the poor guy found?"
Eric loved helping Arista out on her stories as much as he could, but in truth, he loved seeing her get all excited while telling him about them even more. And this particular one sounded rather intriguing. Having a body without an ID wasn't too uncommon - after all, there were a lot of homeless in Gatsberry. But living in a place like this, there was always a chance it could be something deeper. He brought the glasses from the kitchen back into the living room, setting down on the couch next to Arista. "Here you are," he said, passing over one of the glasses.
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