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 Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 11:59 am
"I'm liking the idea of aquariums less and less," Maia muttered. She knew children loved to see the bright colored fish, and they did seem to get excited whenever anything--a crab, a seagull, a piece of seaweed; came towards them. And it wasn't practical for people to be deep enough in the water to see the things in aquariums, because sharks. And whales. And meat eating fish. And they'd drown, freeze, or be smushed by the water pressure.
"I'm glad you saved her," she said. Being contained would be awful, she'd be sure to avoid mentioning that in email.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 12:59 pm
"Every once in a while we do really need to rescue someone," Toby said with a sigh. "Sometimes it's humans from entities, though." Those were less fun. He didn't enjoy taking lives, humanoid or not, sentient or not. It meant taking people away from home, sometimes, breaking their wishes for the safety of them all. The man who had taken his family from him... they just hadn't been fast enough. He rubbed his jaw.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 1:10 pm
They needed a new topic, and fast. Toby was sighing too often, Maia doubted he'd be happy continuing the conversation if they kept on the same track. "You saved me," She said. She hadn't appreciated it then. She had planned to escape.
"Do you want to make breakfast with me tomorrow?" she asked. Cooking made him happy.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 2:00 pm
Toby offered a smile. Yes, they'd saved her, likely from some fate worse than death.
"Sure," he said with a little nod, "What do you want to make? We might need to stop at the store." He'd been neglecting his errands and chores a bit these past few days.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 2:15 pm
"Maybe an omelett?" Maia suggested. "If you don't want to go to the store, I can ask Dari to drop me off and I'll get what we need." She'd noticed Toby neglecting errands, but that didn't matter so much. She stood up and went to check the fridge. Hm.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 2:32 pm
They had eggs, veggies and cheese. The usual staples were there, but they were running low on pasta and could use some more milk. While Maia was gone the timer went off and Toby rose to retrieve the apple pie.
"I'm sorry I've been so weird lately," he said as he set it on the cooling rack as well. The exhaustion was beginning to set it.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 2:51 pm
Maia was surprised Toby mentioned it. She closed the fridge and turned to him. "Hey," She said. "Its okay. I have bad days too." She offered him a smile. "That pie smells wonderful. Are you ready for bed?" She didn't want Toby to stay up any longer than he had to.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 3:07 pm
Bad days. Sure. He smiled again and nodded as he pulled off the oven mitt.
"Yeah, I think it's finally starting to get to me. Are yo gonna say up?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 3:11 pm
Maia considered staying up for a moment; time to finish her book, that'd be nice. But no, the late hour was getting to her as well and she had to cover a yawn. "Nah," she said, moving to hug him. "I'm glad we talked tonight, Toby. I'll see you in the morning."
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 3:35 pm
Toby fell into the hug, closing his eyes and giving Maia a good squeeze. Ah, what he wouldn't give to take her to bed. No, he was stronger than that, more mature. You didn't ruin friendships in desperation.
"Good night, Maia. See you tomorrow." He smiled and headed back toward the stairs.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 3:54 pm
Maia went up the stairs and climbed into bed. She stayed awake for a long while, until finally succumbing to sleep.
She woke when the sun rose, wondering how to help Toby. She no longer thought he was sick, at least; she was starting to recognize the symptoms of depression. The sighing. The quiet, the acting strangely. But why? Dari said it happened this time of the year, so it wasn't something she'd done. Something must have happened.
She emerged from her room and went to find Dari.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 4:10 pm
Upstairs, Toby slept atop a pillow he'd wrapped his arms around. Dari was resting on the couch, shirtless, watching television. He smiled when he saw Maia. She looked like she had a goal in mind.
"Good morning."
It was nice to have company so much earlier these days.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 4:24 pm
"Good morning, Dari," Maia greeted him with a small smile. Her mind was elsewhere. "I talked to Toby last night," she revealed. "He couldn't sleep. But I still don't know what's bothering him. I think talking to him helped, a little, anyway." It'd gotten him to sleep, at least.
"Do you know what's bothering him?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 4:29 pm
"Mm. I saw the pies." It wasn't always pie. Sometimes it was cake or cupcakes, sometimes something doubly complex. Rather than go insane at the supermarket, Toby had sort of neglected his more complicated culinary desires. "That's good. It's good to keep him distracted." Of course hearing that she'd talked to him made Dari think that she knew the story. Apparently not.
"Oh. Yes. I do, but it's not really my place to say."
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 4:37 pm
Of course, she should have known Dari would notice the pies. "I thought so. He says you're his favorite case," she said, giving Dari a small smile. "We talked about missions." And cooking. They were going to make breakfast today, when Toby woke up.
"I'll ask him."
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