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 Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 7:08 pm
The sudden darkness surprised Maia as they entered the hallway, but she took Toby's hand. What? Had he made it this way? There was no light, how were they supposed to get where they were going?
Wait. She'd recognized the hallway. They were headed towards the apartments. "Why'd you do that?" she asked.
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 7:11 pm
He wasn't sure how Maia expected him to respond. That was a complex question, more than 'yes' or 'no' and his board would be invisible in this darkness. He just gave her hand a little tug, careful since it was so small in his, and led her carefully down the hall and around the back to the apartment yard. There was a swingset, long without patrons, a stocked patio and a toolshed. Toby didn't head for any of these, instead moving to the center of the yard, far enough away from the main building and situated so that none of the structures were in his line of sight. Sitting like a person was impossible. He could crouch or lay, and so he did the latter, plopping down and laying on his back, then pointing up with a dark claw. The stars, see?
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 7:23 pm
Maia followed suit, laying back on the ground to stare up at the sky. She reached for Toby's hand again, hoping to make her delight apparent. She'd never seen the stars so bright. They seemed so much closer, too. "Its the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," she said.
The night sky was more beautiful than the ocean, the lake and the sunset all put together.
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 7:26 pm
Toby let her take his hand again, just this once. It had been a long time since he'd gone stargazing with anyone but Dari but what else was he supposed to do tonight, right? He couldn't smile, but his lips did pull back in a dog's approximation of one. Then he rolled his head back again and tried to pick out the constellations. Carolyn had always been good with that stuff. Him? Not so much.
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 7:32 pm
Maia pointed up to the sky. "Look, those group of stars look like a fish," she said. It was kind of like watching the clouds. The sky was gorgeous, and she was always happy to spend time with Toby. She hadn't imagined this. This was so far beyond her hopes of spotting a coyote from the invisible hall way.
"Thank you for bringing me out here."
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 7:42 pm
Was pisces a constellation? Had Maia just accidentally found it? He couldn't be sure. He gave Maia another stretched smile, unnatural on a canine face, and gave her hand a little shake. You're welcome
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 9:53 pm
"Is that a shooting star?" Maia pointed in excitement for a moment before letting her hand drop. "Nope. It's an airplane. Sorry." She gave his hand a small squeeze. She fell silent, watching the stars. She'd discovered that If you laid still long enough the stars moved. Were they as bright at Toby's place? She doubted it. How many stars were up there? Had anyone counted?
She began to, but lost count after twenty.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 7:38 pm
Shooting stars don't blink, he thought, and they usually don't have red partners either. He couldn't say it though and for some reason he was fine with that. This moment in and of itself was rather nice. His smart mouth might upset it or...something. He didn't really understand it himself.
Toby raised an elongated arm and crossed it behind his head. Silence wasn't so bad tonight.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 7:49 pm
Maia moved a bit closer to Toby. It wasn't cold, so she couldn't use that as an excuse. Instead she folded her arms behind her head and acted as if she'd shifted to make herself more comfortable. The stars were beautiful, they were together, and nothing needed said.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:13 pm
They remained that way for quite a while. Spring nights in Arizona were cool but not cold and the pair on the lawn were surrounded by large invisible windbreakers anyway. An interruption to their quiet contemplation came in the form of a man who appeared as a pair of glowing white eyes and a vaguely light-colored shirt.
Dari was... not proud. "Proud" was too strong a word. He was pleased. He was pleased to see Toby and Maia laying on the ground together and doing nothing in particular. He even smiled a moment before he wiped it from his face and approached.
"We're getting odd reading from one of the positioning systems," he said, "I'll need you input." He pretended nothing odd was going on because that was the best way to handle Toby in these sorts of situations from any angle.
Toby huffed and pushed himself up, nodding. He gave Maia an apologetic glance that might have not looked like anything at all to her and began to head inside. He was able to see in the dark but, he suddenly remembered, Maia was not. He skipped back a few steps and offered his hand to her again.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:28 pm
Maia made a sound when the interruption came. She slowly sat up and stared. Dari was only recognizable by his glowing eyes. She reflected that this was the first time she'd seen him and not been happy; well apart from their initial meeting.
She stood, stumbling slightly as her legs adjusted to being vertical again. It felt as if a million tiny swords were jabbing at her. Huh. That was new
She took Toby's hand when it was offered.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:04 pm
Toby didn't take the stumble to be born from pins and needles and instead correlated it to his previous thoughts about Maia not being able to see in the dark as well as he and his partner. He stepped in front of her and awkwardly patted his own back while he crouched. Piggyback rides were an easy solution. Hopefully Maia would get the idea, but Dari could help her if not.
Speaking of Dari, Toby caught him smiling and just looked at him a moment or two. Huh. Weird.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:12 pm
Maia hesitated. What did Toby want? Oh. She gave a nod in understanding, climbing on awkwardly. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "You didn't need to do that," She said. But she was thankful. Toby seemed to have better eyesight in the dark than she did.
She glanced at Dari. It was still too dark for her to see much more than his eyes.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:17 pm
Dari's eyes were predictably unblinking and it was always difficult to decide if they were moving or not. Most people found that especially creepy, but a while back Toby had convinced his partner to not worry about opinions and give up wearing sunglasses all of the time.
Toby felt Maia's weight, let her adjust, and then stood. He was generally a tall man but he had gained near a foot in his transformation and so Maia was in for a particularly lofty sort of ride. Their trip was just back to the work room where he would crouch to drop her off and address the problem with one of their chipped werewolves.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:32 pm
He was so tall. Seven feet at least, so much taller than she herself was! She leaned against him and let him take her to the work room where they'd been earlier.
After Toby had resolved the issue, Maia went up to him. "Come walk me to Dari's apartment?" She asked. She was hoping to convince Toby to rest. Maybe get a few winks herself.
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