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 Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 3:39 pm
Maia woke, dressing before going downstairs that morning. She took several moments to groom herself as well; brushing her hair out and washing her face. When she did wander downstairs, she headed for the kitchen and noticed Toby was waiting by the toaster.
Maia had nothing against toast. She did wonder at Toby's making of it: he seemed to enjoy elaborate meals better. "Good morning," sh greeted him, with a smile. No mention of his failure to cook. No asking how he was.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 3:56 pm
"Morning," Toby said, barely raising a hand. He didn't bother to smile. "Do you want some toast? I think we have some cereal too. Oatmeal maybe." Ice-encrusted waffles, maybe.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:03 pm
"Sure, toast is good. I'll put cinnamon and sugar on it." Toby wasn't even trying to act normal, but Dari had told her he wouldn't be normal. "What do you want on your toast? I'll make it for you."
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:04 pm
Toby looked to Maia, and then back to the toaster. "No, I've got it. Unless you want these?" Toast wasn't enough to feed them for the day, though.
"I could make, uh. Scrambled eggs?" He didn't want to, but he should.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:10 pm
"No, you go ahead," Maia said, indicating that he should sit and enjoy his toast. She knew how to use the toaster, she'd been in a rush on the full moon to check if Toby had been alright. She took out two more pieces of bread and waited for Toby's to finish.
"I'll make eggs, if you want them," she offered.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:15 pm
"No, I'm fine." The toast popped out and Toby spread some peanut butter on it and let it melt a bit. He gestured to the toaster as he left with his plate.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:23 pm
Maia's ability to pretend everything was fine was wearing thin. She didn't know how Dari did it. She plopped her toast into the toaster, waited, and when it popped out, spread butter on it and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on it. She joined Toby, but looked for Dari.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:26 pm
Dari was at the table as well. He knew better than to leave Toby alone with his thoughts this week. He began talking business immediately, and Toby only nodded or shook his head or shrugged but it was something. He made eye contact with Maia but it was impossible to tell with his glowing orbs for eyes. Toby was not doing well.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:38 pm
Even work talk seemed to fail to keep Toby distracted. Maia felt she would rather deal with a week of red tide, rather than this. Poor Toby. She nodded at Dari, looking concerned for a moment. She took a bite of her toast, but it was like she'd swallowed a lump of paste. She wasn't especially hungry, knowing Toby wasn't well.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 7:51 pm
There were no more breakfasts like this. Toby returned to a normal morning schedule, though it was often earlier than one might expect. At work he maintained a positive air but when he retreated to privacy one could see that it had worn on him. He was starting to drink wine with dinner.
He wasn't getting any sleep, though. That was the worst part. He'd just lay there and think. Sometimes it went away and let the exhaustion take over, but not tonight... or this morning. What time was it anyway? It had been something like 2:30 when he'd finally gone down to the kitchen with a plan. He needed a distraction. He kept seeing little flashes, getting little bursts of dread or panic or depression, so it was time to bake. At the moment he was using an oven mitt and a pot holder to remove a banana cream from the oven. It was just what they had in the fridge. The apple one would need to go a while longer yet, and the whole house smelled like baking.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:07 pm
Maia woke to the sweet smell of baking pies and wandered out of her room. Her sugar senses were running wild. She wandered down the stairs and immediately headed for the kitchen. By then vibrantly awake, she gave Toby a bright smile. "Can I help?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:12 pm
Toby froze and looked up. From his stooped position he could see a rather wakeful selkie grinning. Well. He hadn't been expecting anyone at all, really, but his usual roommate's nose was purely aesthetic. He looked back down at the pie in his hands as if it may hold some sort of secret and then put it on the cooling rack, pulled off the oven mitt, and offered Maia a smile.
"I'm done, actually, unless--" he looked up at the kitchen clock. It was after 3. They really didn't have the time to make another and also sleep. "No, yeah, I should be done."
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:21 pm
Maia looked over at the pies. Stupid clock. She'd failed to cook with Toby at all this week. "They smell wonderful!" she said, glad to see Toby was smiling. "You'll teach me how to make them?" She studied him for a long moment, poking him in the chest. "Next time, wait for me! I want to bake."
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:23 pm
"Sure." He'd already agreed to help Maia make pies, but thinking back they had only done it once. He owed her some more. The poke was met with utter ambivalence though, save Toby glancing down at it.
"Sure," he repeated, "I don't usually get up at 2am to make pies, but next time." Another smile.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:32 pm
"I was wondering about that," Maia said, leaning against a counter and looking at him. "Why are you up so late? Did you have a nightmare?" She asked, frowning in concern. She had experience with nightmares. "We could talk about it, if you want."
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