|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:03 pm
Maia was still concerned, as she turned back to Dari. When he held up his arm, she inspected it. Hm. Well. It seemed alright, then. The wound had started to close, and Dari was still very much alive.
"You're alright then? Let's go watch a movie," she invited Toby, taking his hand and tugging him towards the livingroom.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:09 pm
"Well, that deescalated very quickly," Dari said, wiggling his fingers as he began to test the pressure. Of course his fingers were less fingery than most. Technically he was the slosh inside the membrane, not the humanoid shape shown. Most of his people, if not all of them, chose to contain themselves in a membrane and developed sorts of 'bones' and 'limbs' as the humans would call them, but they could just as easily live in a bucket with no supporting exo-structure.
Toby just laughed and let himself be dragged. "Sure." Movies were hard with Maia. Everything nowadays was about blood and shock value and sex. Eventually they were going to run out of 'safe' material. Dari emerged from the bathroom a short while later to dispose of his drippings and then joined the other two.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:17 pm
"I'm still upset with you," Maia informed Dari when he joined them, but softened her words by hugging him. "I'm not really," she confessed. How could she stay mad at her best friend? "You scared me! I'm glad you're alright."
"Which movie?" she asked. She would let the boys pick this time. She sat back on the couch, leaning against the back.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:19 pm
"Upset? Why?!" Dari asked worriedly, but Maia corrected herself and e relaxed. "I'll try to be more private about it from now on."
"Mmmmm..." It was Toby's thinking-noise as he scrolled through their choices. "How about this one?" It seemed safe enough. R ratings were a definite no-go.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:26 pm
The week went by without incident, and Saturday arrived with a gray sky. The day went on peacefully for the most part, but the sky did get omniously darker as time went by.
The resident selkie had taken to checking out the window with a concerned expression. She hated storms, more than anything.
The wind picked up late at night, after the selkie had bunkered down under her blankets. Nope, nope, nope. The storm would be over soon, she was sure, and she'd be able to sleep.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:32 pm
Toby had known the storm was coming. The weathermen had predicted it a dozen times over, and it was supposed to be a bad one. He had of course told Maia none of this. It wouldn't have accomplished anything. She'd just be more frightened. He knew by now how she was with storms, and so as he got ready for bed he retrieved his iPod, just in case. The wind was beginning to howl across town and he knew it wouldn't be long. Should he go check on her, or was that too presumptuous?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:37 pm
Thunder clashed, lightning flashed across her window, effectively getting Maia out of bed. She took her blanket with her, bundling it around her like a hood and cape. All attempts to ignore the storm forgotten, she made her way into the hall and sat on the floor.
Maybe it'd be over soon? Hopefully.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:39 pm
Toby heard the great crash and then the thundering across the hallway. He was only coming up the stairs now, clad in pajama pants lest he run into Maia, and he did. She was a cloaked figure in the hallway and he crouched to meet her eyes.
"Do you want some company?" That was probably the least embarrassing way of asking if she needed him again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:45 pm
Maia gave a nod, uncovering her head. She was silent awhile, listening to the howl of the wind, and then spoke."I knew there was a storm coming." The sky had given that away hours ago, and she'd learned to watch for them in Oregon. "I hope it's one of those few minute ones and then everything clears up."
She invited him to sit next to her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:48 pm
Toby only crouched. He didn't sit or make himself comfortable. The hall was uncomfortable and not meant for extended stays. As far as he knew, the storm was either going to be a quick finger passing over them or a good amount of the storm. He couldn't be sure yet. He couldn't be until it was or wasn't over.
"Come on. Let's pick a room." He gestured toward his, just because that was where they'd gone last time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:54 pm
Maia hesitated, slowly standing and moving towards his room. She sat on the edge of his bed and waited for him. Thunder clashed, lightning flashed and the wind howled. The wind seemed to hit the house with a loud noise, and the trees outside shook. The selkie shivered.
She pulled her blanket tighter against her. "I'm sorry. I was going to deal with this..." But it was hard. "I wish I'd been able to outgrow this."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 8:24 pm
Toby's brow furrowed and he shook his head.
"There's nothing to apologize for," he assured her, joining Maia at the edge of the bed and wrapping his arms around her without hesitation. "It's hard to ever grow out of trauma. I'm no better myself and it's been forty years. Come on." He let her go and scooted back on his bed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 8:29 pm
Maia returned the hug. So was there no cure for this then? It'd been quite a long time, but not forty years--would she still have to deal with this? She scooted further onto his bed, sighing.
"Your trauma is from your family dying," she guessed. "Nothing helps?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 8:33 pm
"Friends help. Distractions help. I still have nightmares, though. It still hurts. It just gets easier to not hurt all the time." Maia was being blunt and so he was being blunt back. No, it never really went away. You could work on it. It got easier. That didn't mean you could forget.
Again Toby acted without hesitation, stealing one half of Maia's blanket and curling up in it with her, still sitting. "When you lose someone suddenly, it leaves scars."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 8:41 pm
"I used to have nightmares about it," Maia admitted. "Storms terrify me, they have since that night. They didn't come back, so I looked for them afterwards. I thought maybe they'd gone somewhere for shelter for the storm." She swallowed, and looked straight at the wall. "I found them."
She didn't describe what she'd seen, but she took Toby's hand and kept it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
