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 Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 7:12 pm
"Certainly." Maia seemed like the type that needed contact when unhappy. Toby was most often the opposite unless it was especially bad. Reading with her was the least he could do. He returned to the couch and patted the seat beside him, turning to the closest story. "Have you read this one yet?"
It was several hours before Toby emerged, no longer in suit and tie but back in his casual wear. He came down the stairs at a rather normal speed and headed for his keys on the table beside the door.
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 7:22 pm
Maia had tried her hand at spaghetti after reading several stories with Dari. She'd been distracted with her thoughts though and had allowed the noodles to boil too long. The result was that they were rubbery. She attempted to doctor them up, but it was no use.
When she heard Toby come downstairs, she greeted him with a small smile as she exited the kitchen. "Go have fun," she said.
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 7:29 pm
Toby offered her a smile back and his eyes seemed much less empty. His gait was still a little off but he seemed more rested.
"I will," he said just as he pulled open the door and left. It was ritual to get together the night after a full moon and have a meal, talk about things, and generally feel like human beings again. They were three different men with vastly different lives save that one little quirk and it was enough to bring them all together. They only really saw each other once a month, but they were friends on a deeper level than most. Hopefully some time out would help lift his spirits.
Dari meanwhile was on the couch again. He offered Toby a smile and a wave and he was gone.
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 7:49 pm
When Toby left, Maia went up to bed. The spaghetti was pretty inedible, and She wasn't entirely hungry. This being human idea she'd had was harder than she'd thought. This form had a greater emotional range than seals did. Maybe she could talk to Seamus tomorrow. Or swim. Maybe both. Convince Lori to skip class with her and swim instead.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 12:26 pm
It took Dari a short while to come to another conclusion. What took most of the time was deciding whether or not to bring it up. Menstruation was a touchy subject with women, especially coming from men, and a man what was most people saw him as. Maia had been crying all day, though. She'd cooked, given up, and gone back to bed. If that wasn't emotional disturbance he didn't know what was.
It felt good to get out. He painted up, went out to the store and chose several types of chocolate, none of which were especially dark, a new heating pad since Toby's was so old and worn, and a bottle of Midol. The young woman working the till gave him a knowing look and he smiled back, then he was off toward home. He wrote Maia a note and sneaked into her room barefoot to leave her gifts, then padded out quietly.
Toby arrived home somewhat late and feeling much better. The next morning he woke up even more sore than the day before, but only muscularly, not in bones. He yawned and rubbed his eye as he came downstairs.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 12:36 pm
When Maia emerged from her bedroom, she was carrying an open bar of chocolate in one hand and Dari's note in the other. She hadn't fixed her hair yet, some of it was standing up and mussed. That didn't seem to matter though, as She went down the stairs to find Dari and hug him. "Thank you."
She glanced towards Toby and gave him a small smile. She took another bite of her chocolate and settled on the couch.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 12:42 pm
Dari smiled and touched her hand. "Of course."
Toby watched Maia go, mouth still wide. Chocolate?
... chocolate. Dear God. Rather than go with Maia he turned to Dari and motioned to a figurative uterus. Dari nodded.
No wonder...
"Maia, what do you want for breakfast?" Toby called loudly toward the other room.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 12:52 pm
Maia stood and poked her head into the kitchen. "Breakfast? Can I help?" she asked. "Want to make pancakes?" She entered, finishing her candy and placing the wrapper in the trash. "I found this recipe for homemade ones the day before yesterday. I wanted to try." And hopefully they wouldn't end up as bad as the spaghetti.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 12:57 pm
"Oh? Sure. I have a couple of my own too." Of course Maia had had those before. It was odd how quickly she'd come back into herself. The poor thing had never had her period before, had she? "Did you print it out?"
Dari just smiled and minded his own business, heading off to paint up yet again.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:03 pm
"Let's do one of yours. I tried making spaghetti but it ended up being a disaster. Pancakes should be easier." And she'd enjoyed Toby's before, which was better than some recipe she'd found on the internet and never tried before. "I'll get the mixing bowl."
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:05 pm
"Pancakes can be sort of difficult, but we'll get it right." He went to retrieve the griddle. "Do you want anything in them?" He was pretty sure he had some fruit. It was as if nothing had ever happened between them.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:10 pm
"I knew if you were helping me they'd turn out okay," Maia said, pulling out the mixing bowl and setting it on the counter. "I don't know, do you want anything in them?" she asked. "I'll get the flour out." She did so and glanced at him. "If I go to class, can I come to your office and visit later?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:15 pm
Toby shrugged. "They're good with and without. Oh, yeah. Sure. I wanted to say I'm sorry for worrying you so much yesterday. I'm all good." He put his arms out in a little display of his own body and smiled, then began to gather the rest of the ingredients as well as the written recipe. He usually made the other sort, but today was a fluffy pancake kind of day.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:28 pm
Maia hadn't planned to bring up yesterday. But as Toby had, the subject no longer appeared taboo. "I'm sorry for being awful yesterday. I'm glad you're feeling better." Once their arms were free of ingredients, Maia hugged him. "Let's go to the lake Sunday," She suggested. She and Dari had agreed on letting Toby sleep in on Saturday.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:31 pm
"Are you feeling better?" Toby asked, gladly returning the hug. He let it linger a moment while he asked his question and then did finally release her. "Sure, we can. Okay, so. Want to try to read me the recipe?"
He would know if she got numbers or measurements desperately wrong. He had made them enough times for that. Any practice was good practice, right?
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