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 Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 12:15 pm
At the brush of hair, Toby only exhaled softly and nuzzled into the pillow. That was it... for a moment. His eyes fluttered open and stared dazedly at Maia. In his mind there was nothing wrong with this, not yet. Then he began to wake more fully. He felt his cheeks grow hot and he removed his arm from around Maia in a lift, not an affectionate slide.
"Sorry." Hopfully she wouldn't make a big deal out of it.
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 12:24 pm
Maia blinked, once, twice. Huh. So she'd failed to keep Toby asleep. "Its alright," she assured him. "We were sleeping." He didn't have to apologize--but maybe this meant he liked her back? She'd have to ask Dari. She pulled away and sat up, stretching.
"Well. I think it's time for work. At least breakfast. I'll make pancakes."
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 12:27 pm
Toby groaned and looked to the analog clock on the side table. Ah, s**t.
"I'll be late. No time to eat." He was now officially pretending as if they hadn't woken up holding one another and nothing was weird. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood, stretching. Argh, his joints. He had a suit in the closet and could easily fit into one of Dari's, but he wasn't about to change in front of Maia. A butt as one thing, but...
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 12:33 pm
Maia's smile had faded. Toby seemed to not want to talk about last night, or how special it'd been--and he was going to rush off to work without eating. "Can you take the day off?" she asked. "You can rest, I'll do all the cooking. I can take care of you until you feel better." She wasn't a great cook, but as long as he didn't object to pancakes and pasta, he'd at least get his three meals in for the day.
"Please rest?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 12:38 pm
"I'm fine, Maia. Really," he replied, offering her a smile. He was buttoning up his shirt and looked rather goofy in pajama pants and a formal shirt. he was still bruised and tired and aching, but it didn't feel right to take the day off. "If you want I can have Dari drive you home. Unless you have class? Then I could bring you back with me."
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 12:42 pm
Maia crossed her arms. "No, you're not," she said. "You're still hurting, I bet. I saw those bruises. You completely changed form last night! Broke some bones, I bet! At least, had them stretched. I really think you ought to rest. Please. Just one day. I'll go to class and Then I'll come home to keep you company."
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 12:45 pm
Toby huffed through his nose.
"Maia, I can't. Last night was rough, but I've been doing it for forty years. If you're really hurting for someone to spend time with, Dari gets today off. I'm sure he'd love to hang out."
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 12:51 pm
"Right. Because obviously, I'm trying to keep you home to spend time with you!" Ugh. Men. "Its not that I'm worried about you, oh no. I want someone to hang out with! Drag you all over the mall, force you to drive around! This concern is only a front!" She huffed. Her arms fell to her sides. "I was only trying to help. You said you were considering it yesterday. And last night you were in so much pain!"
Why couldn't he see how much she cared about him?
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:07 pm
Toby froze, eyes widening. Well then. Maia appeared to be pretty angry. There was a moment of silence while he tried to formulate a response that wouldn't make her more angry.
"No, it's not--" No, no. "I don't doubt that you care. Really. It just doesn't feel right to take a sick day because I was sick yesterday." and through to this morning, really.
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:14 pm
"You're still hurting now, and you worked all yesterday! And last night!" Maia pointed out. She took a moment to calm down, taking a deep breath. "Go to work then. You're late. You can get something from the caf." She turned away from him.
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:21 pm
If nothing else, Toby's breathing patterns were a good signal for his emotions. This time it was a frustrated sigh. At least Maia wasn't looking so he was able to put on some proper pants.
Of course it was just then that Dari appeared. Way back when, others had assumed that the alien wasn't affected by emotions such as stress. He had proven otherwise since, and so on the day following the full moon he was free to do as he pleased. He usually stayed inside, but relaxing was key. He entered through the front door and stopped, looking to Maia, furrowing his brow and tilting his head in question. What was going on?
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:27 pm
"He's being an idiot," Maia informed the person at the door, before noticing it was Dari. She walked up to him and gave him a hug. "He won't stay home and he says if I'm looking for someone to hang out with you're off. But that's not even the issue here." She took a breath. "He's hurting and he overworked himself yesterday and I really think he should REST but he's not listening. He listens to you, so can you tell him to rest?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:30 pm
Ah. Yes, that sounded a lot like Toby. Dari accepted and returned the hug with a nod. What had he done now?
"He doesn't listen to me," Dari mumbled, but of course he knew that Toby could hear. When he was released from the hug he moved to stand in the bedroom door, blocking Toby's exit.
"You're limping," he commented casually. Toby just narrowed his eyes and continued tying his tie.
"Maia and I agree that you should take a day off to rest."
"I don't need a day off. Step aside."
"Yes you do. You know you do too, but your ego won't let you say 'no.'"
Toby visibly bristled. "You're being an idiot."
"And you're a pain in the a**." Not being or acting like one, just was one.
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:36 pm
Well. Maybe there was a plus side to Toby failing to value her opinion; at least he didn't call her names. She moved to sit in the arm chair in the living room, scowling. Stupid Toby. Stupid work.
"I'm not talking to him," She informed Dari.
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:42 pm
Both heads turned toward her, then returned to one another.
"Stay here," Dari reiterated, "or I can drive you home. You can't walk, you barely slept, you're going to be useless."
"Dari."
"Tobias."
Toby sighed. "Please. Just let me go."
Dari relented after a moment and stepped aside, watching Toby limp out the door and start down the hall. The alien shook his head then and turned to Maia.
"Like I said, he's very stubborn about it. Did he sleep at all?"
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