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 Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 5:29 pm
Toby was surprised to find himself hugged when he turned. At first there was only a nearly-shocked expression, but it turned into a pleasant smile soon enough. Unlike his usual fare, he wrapped his arms around Maia and gave her a good squeeze. He could smell her hair. He could feel her warmth. His body ached to kiss her neck, not for whatever reciprocation might follow but for the connection, however brief, of one little move of intimacy. He closed his eyes and gave her another squeeze instead.
"Sure. When ever you like."
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 5:42 pm
Maia tightened her hold on Toby briefly. He seemed to need the hug tonight, and understandably. He'd had a rough week. "I'm glad I got to spend today with you," she said, giving him a smile. It had been special.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 5:47 pm
Toby smiled back at Maia when the hug released.
"I am too." Maia might not have known it, but her presence had made all of this much easier. He couldn't really put his finger on why, but it had been nice. She had offered distractions and cushioned some blows. Maybe it was just because she was a new face to break the mold of every year previous.
Kiss her, his brain hissed. You know she'll take it.
She would. Whether it was selkie love or just generally being sweet and flattered she would, but so many things could go wrong. Flirting was harmless. Kissing crossed the line.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 5:52 pm
"Do you want to do something before bed?" Maia asked. They had time still, maybe they could play a board game or something. She offered him her hand, intending to lead him out of his room and down the stairs. "Maybe Dari will join us."
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 5:55 pm
Toby eyed the clock. It could creep up on him and take him down easily, but it was late. The hour had passed. The week of hell was over.
"Sure, if you want to. What do you want to do?" He let her take his hand this one last time, because what harm could it do? It would be strange to cut her off just because he was feeling relieved and a bit more stable.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 6:02 pm
"I thought we could play a board game or something," Maia said, giving Toby a smile and leading him down the stairs. "Checkers, maybe?" Did they have to go into HQ tomorrow? Yes. She'd forgotten, after their two days off. "Wind down before bed."
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 6:11 pm
Toby was pretty wound-down himself. All he'd need was a shower and he'd be out like a light. The stress of this week demanded to be slept-off. There was nothing else to do with it. It made him ache. He was tired. Maia seemed pretty awake, though.
"Alright. One game. I'm sort of exhausted."
Dari was brushing his teeth, something he did not often do. Sugar could get stuck to his translucent chompers just as well as the real thing, though, and food could rot there. He'd used his mouth and so he was cleaning it up. The foam of the toothpaste was visible through his cheek.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 6:18 pm
It seemed the sugar in Maia's system was the only thing keeping her awake. Half way through the game, the lateness of the hour hit her, and she yawned. They continued to play; and Toby won by the end. She gave him a hug and wandered upstairs, headed for bed.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 6:26 pm
This hug lingered too, and Maia went off to bed and Toby toward the shower, all while the ever-present alien audience smiled to himself. So far, all was going well. He had seen that hug.
Work the next day went as if the previous week hadn't happened. In fact Toby seemed even more joyful than usual. He teased less and smiled more, whatever that meant. Dari meanwhile was feeling slightly uncomfortable in his clothing. Had he really eaten so much? He decided that tonight would be a good night to purge some of the waste that eating left behind.
This was the reason he stood in the bathroom after work, stripped to his slacks, with a forearm held over a biohazard bin propped up in the sink. He only wanted to drain waste, not the stuff that kept him going, so there was a short preparation phase of separating the two and of creating a sort of safety valve, and then he simply drew a surgical blade on a chunky wooden handle down his outer membrane, causing a spill of black fluid.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 6:32 pm
Maia had been going to talk to Dari, and when she got to the bathroom, she froze. Dari was bleeding. He was hurt. Badly hurt. She stiffened and took a step back, before heading into the bathroom and going to the cabinet. She took out the box of bandaids, hesitating.
Dari was holding a knife. And it seemed it was deliberate. "Are you crazy? You could've died!"
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 6:37 pm
Dari was shocked, but he lacked the articulation to show it on his face. Instead he froze and watched Maia busy herself finding... band-aids? He looked down at the wound he had created and the black fluid still rolling into the bin and a a small amount dripping down his arm. It was a slow, controlled flow but it undoubtedly looked like bleeding to anyone more humanoid.
"I'm fine," he assured her. He preferred the size he usually was. He was comfortable in those proportions, and they were so well-learned that he could stop the flow as soon as he reached the proper pressure and call it a night. He looked to the wound again and his hand flopped over, entirely lacking the pressure to keep its shape.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 6:43 pm
Dari was not fine, Maia could see that. His hand flopped. She frowned at him, in concern. "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, fretfully. She had remembered, belatedly, that Dari claimed he couldn't feel pain. "You're not hurt? Because I could call Toby over--" she hesitated, looking for the werewolf in hopes he'd come resolve this.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 6:46 pm
"Yes, yes. I am fine." He reached over to squeeze the waste from the tips of his deflated fingers and lifted the dead hand in a rather unsettling way to help the drainage. Then he lifted his arm at the elbow and let that fall.
"Call Toby over for what? Bathroom party?" Toby appeared in the doorway, already out of his work clothes. "Oh. Too many marshmallows, fatty?"
Dari grinned. "Yes."
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 6:53 pm
"No more marshmallows," Maia began, and turn turned to hug Toby. "He cut himself open," she complained. She still didn't understand how someone so vibrantly alive as Dari could do that--and pick up hot trays from the oven with his bare hands--without consequences. She was concerned.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 6:58 pm
Shock might be hard to register, but the sudden furrow of Dari's brow was unmistakable. No more marshmallows?! She had been so adamant about him eating with them and now what?!
Toby let the hug happen, clearly terribly amused at the whole ordeal. "It's okay. He has to sometimes. It freaked me out the first time too."
"I have to. Humanoids have ways to purge waste. This is my way. I have memories of other implements and places, but I can't dump this into the ocean."
The alien rubbed the incision mark a few times and then pinched it closed. He allowed more fluid to enter the limb and the wound began to close before their eyes. Dari even held it up a bit for Maia to see in the hopes it would comfort her.
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