"I can handle people and crowds, as long as I'm not packed in shoulder to shoulder with anyone," She replied with a smile, following him with the same bounce in her step. Selina was extremely excited to be heading to the city, excited enough that she couldn't care less about the crowds of people sure to be in the parking lot. This early in the morning, it would be less busy, but within half an hour, the park would be jammed with people, exactally what she wasn't a fan of.
“You don't seem to mind being shoulder to shoulder with me.” he chuckled, teasing her a little but not unkindly. Frankie picked up his pace a little so that, hopefully, they would avoid too much attention and spend more time in the city together. Though he was going to remember what she said and try to help her ignore any crowded situations.
"That's because I like being around you, and you're not a lot of people," She replied with a laugh, bumping him with her shoulder. She continued along with him, already hearing the noise of cars and people as they got closer and closer to the parking lot. The sounds of civilization that she wasn't terribly used to. Selina glanced over at Frankie, wondering if he could hear them or if it was just her sharpened hearing.
Frankie laughed a little at the playful gesture before returning the bump. “I like being around you too, Selina.” he smiled at her, managing to not blush this time. It took him a few moments before he heard the rumble of cars and continued towards the parking lot. “We’re almost there.” he told her, excitement in his voice.
She smiled at the idea of their trip to the city almost starting, giddy with excitement. Selina had only ever been to the city a few times, and all of those were quick trips for needed supplies, no sightseeing going on at all. This time, she was sure there was going to be more time to see things and spend time with Frankie, maybe see a little of what his life was like, "Hopefully it's not as busy in the parking lot as I think it will be."
Frankie shrugged a little at her comment, still excited as well to show her around the city. “It’s still pretty early so I don't think it will be very busy… Except for maybe some people who are on their last day and have to start early to get home.” he told her with an assuring smile. His family had done that more than a couple times when their trip had ended, with Cora usually falling back to sleep on the drive home. “We should be fine.” he added as he saw the roof of his old Jeep not too far ahead.
(bump?)
(I swear I responded to this…I’m very sorry I’ll get a response up as soon as I have access to a computer)
(Ok. Sorry to bother you.)
(No no problem at all thank you for bumping this, I have a nonexistent attention span so I wouldn’t have remembered to bump it for a while)
Selina seemed happy with that explanation, it made sense that people would try to leave early like them to get home. They didn’t live in the park like she did, and traffic always looked horrible whenever she got close enough to see it. She smiled happily as she looked over the parking lot, searching for Frankies car even though she had no clue what it looked like. “As long as we don’t have to wait for hours to get to the city,” She added, looking over at him with a playful smile.
(Oh, then you're welcome.)
“Nah, it won't take hours for us. Probably closer to… fifteen minutes?” Frankie said thoughtfully. “Maybe thirty depending on traffic.” he shrugged a little, pausing for a moment to grab his keys. The briefly flashing lights showing Selina which car was his as he deactivated the alarm before he continued walking over to it. As he had mentioned, it was an older model dark blue Jeep with a black soft top and it was obviously well cared for. “If you want, you can go ahead and climb in. I just gotta put this in the back.” he told her as he hefted the cooler to show what he meant.
"I like your car," She said as they got closer, studying the vehicle with a smile. The ranger that helped their pack had a similar car, though it was a dark green instead of blue. Selina decided she liked this one much better, both because it looked nice and because it was Frankie's. Nodding, she walked to the passenger's seat and opened the door after studying it for a moment. Then, she sat down, closing the door behind her and waiting patiently for Frankie. It was exciting to be in a vehicle, she liked them and the feeling of the engine running and rumbling the car, and even more than that, it meant they were going to the city.
“Thank you. I like it too.” Frankie smiled at her, hoisting the cooler into the trunk before tossing his bag of laundry in as well. He stretched a little and made his way to the driver's seat. Seeing her excited face, made his smile grow as he turned the key. “Don’t forget your seatbelt before we get too far.” he reminded, fastening his own and turning the radio down a little. He almost chuckled at the thought of Selina sticking her head out the window.
She nodded at his reminder, quickly buckling while she watched him do the same, "Are we ready to go now?" Selina was more than excited, she couldn't wait to get going, but it had been a while since she had rode in a car. There could've been more that needed to be done, and she would've waited patiently, but something told her that they were going to go. "Don't run over any park visitors when we leave," She jokingly added, a smile permanent on her face.
“Yes, we’re ready.” Frankie smiled at her as he put the car in gear and carefully drove towards the park exit. He couldn't help but laugh at the playful warning and shook his head. “I won't, I won’t.” he assured her as he managed to calm down a little, though he was still grinning at the joke. “Is there anywhere you want to go first when we get to the city?”
"Hmmm….I want to try some of the coffee you mentioned. I've seen tourists drink it, but I've never tried it," She said, happy to look out the window as they headed towards the park exit. A bit of worry crossed her mind momentarily, but she quickly got it under control. This was no different than leaving to get food for the pack, she had no reason to worry about being captured. And to top it off, she was with Frankie, someone she trusted.
“Coffee it is.” he smiled, giving a polite wave as they passed the security booth before driving on the actual road. “I think I saw a Starbucks or Scooters on the way here. They have a lot of good options.” Frankie told her, wanting to help prepare her for what to expect without spoiling too much of the experience. “Is there anything you want to know before we get there?”
(Sorry for the disappearance…life is a little wild at the moment)
Selina nodded happily. She wasn't exactly sure what the two places he mentioned were, but she figured they had to do with coffee. There was so much she wanted to know about the city, but not many questions popped up into her mind at the moment. "Are people going to notice that I'm not…completely human?" She asked, the question coming to mind in an instant. There was a part of her that was nervous about seeming out of place in the city, and she wondered if anyone could tell she was different.
(It's ok. Things are a little crazy here too.)
Frankie looked over at her for a moment as he stopped at a stop sign. “I don't think so. I mean, you look pretty human right now to me.” he answered honestly. “You should be fine. As long as you don't shift, obviously. Most people probably won't look at you like they're looking for… anything like that.” he said hoping that the words came out right before checking the intersection and driving on when it was clear. Not that there were many cars on the road at this hour.
She smiled, slightly relieved with his answer, "I shouldn't shift if I'm in the city, unless there's something that puts me in extreme danger." Selina figured no one was going to be looking for a werewolf in the city, most people didn't even know they truly existed, but she wanted to be safe rather than sorry. Settling back in her seat, she admired the scenery. It wasn't often that she got to do so, seeing as the park was indeed split between packs, she didn't get to explore much further than what their pack held.
“Well, I don't think we'll run into anything that bad. So you should be fine there.” he assured her. Frankie was fairly sure Selina wouldn't be in serious danger and he was more than willing to protect her when or if it became necessary. Or just guide her, since that seemed more likely. He glanced over at her occasionally as he continued to drive and smiled softly, watching her reaction to the sights.
"I always forget how interesting the world is, outside of the park," She admitted, studying the world as much as she could, "It's different, not as many trees." It was interesting to see that not everywhere looked the same, even if she knew that it was weird to imagine that every place would be the same.
Frankie nodded a little. “Yeah, it is very different.” he agreed softly as he took in the familiar sights. Personally, he would have preferred if there were more trees. He could understand the reasons people gave him about why there weren't so many but that didn't mean he liked it. ”But I’m glad you're having a good time so far.” he smiled at her, changing lanes when he saw the sign for Starbucks coffee.
Selina smiled, nodding, "I always have a good time when I'm exploring, this is just exploring in the city." She watched with new interest as he changed lanes, amazed at the sheer amount of cars on the road. Even though it was early, the roads were far from empty.
Frankie chuckled a little at her reply but nodded. “I enjoy exploring too. I just never thought that seeing a city or town was the same as exploring.” he told her. Most cities or towns generally looked the same to him… the layout of things might be different but they almost always had the same places. “So, do you want to go inside the coffee shop or just drive-thru?” he asked, pointing out the Starbucks up ahead.