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 Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 5:53 pm
"I used to be pretty good--!" He snapped at another. "Pretty good at it. HAH. Got one." He went to Maia and showed her the black and red beetle now sitting at the bottom of the jar. "They don't look like much until they light up."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 5:57 pm
"Looks like an ordinary bug," she said, studying the firefly. But that was like people, wasn't it? You never knew what they could do just by looking at them. "Will it light up in there? Or is it too scared? Maybe it needs some friends?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:00 pm
"It will eventually," Toby said. It didn't right now, but it would. "We could catch a few more. Play matchmaker."
Dari smiled to himself.
"Do you want to try to catch one, or do you want me to keep trying?" Toby asked Maia.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:08 pm
"You keep going, I don't want to accidently free that one," Maia said, shaking her head. She did look around for more though, before spotting a blip and pointing. "There's one!" She tried catching it with cupped hands. She opened them; no bug.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:11 pm
Toby was lost in his own world then, trying to capture as many bugs as he could without releasing the ones he had. Even Dari couldn't be sure if he was showing off for Maia or actually stumbling and landing one-footed in his attempts to succeed. The former was more likely, but then it always was when pretty girls were around. This wasn't just pretty girls, though. This was his roommate. This was Maia.
When he'd caught four Toby returned, holding the now-closed jar up for Maia to see. The bugs blinked to each other and flew from wall to wall. Toby smiled. Ah, it was a little piece of childhood.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:20 pm
Maia took the jar carefully, beaming. Well, they certainly seemed to light up more when there was more than one. "They're beautiful. And there's one for each of them, so maybe you've helped them find love."
She showed the jar to Dari. "Look!"
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:27 pm
"Pretty much any animal will calm down when it realizes it isn't being hurt," Toby said with a nod. He relinquished the jar to let Maia have it. The beetles had plenty of air in there for the entire night and he had no plan to keep them even as long as that.
Dari grinned and looked into the jar. He wondered if they say the same brilliance he did? They may never know. They were beautiful nevertheless. "You're good at catching them."
Toby shrugged. "I had a lot of practice when I was young." Younger. Much...much younger.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:36 pm
Maia let Dari hold onto the jar and gave Toby a smile. "You grew up in a place that had them, then?" she asked. "I'd never seen them before today." Maybe they lived only in grassy areas, maybe they simply didn't live in Oregon.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:40 pm
"Sure. South Carolina every summer, Massachusetts every summer. You won't find them out in the drier areas, and they don't hang out by the ocean." Toby watched the jar pass hands proudly. Another new thing for Maia! He loved those.
"We both glow," Dari said, "I wonder if we glow in the same way?" You could Google fireflies, but you couldn't google Dari.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:02 pm
Maia smiled. Toby had been in quite a few places even as a youngster then. "No, they wouldn't have anywhere to land," Maia mused. Poor things, they'd drown. She gave Toby a hug. He'd abandoned his drink to catch fireflies.
"Maybe. But I think you glow from the heart, Dari. Everyone says eyes are the Windows to your soul."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:06 pm
For a moment, both men were silent. Teir faces were expressionless but somehow taut as they contemplated what had just been said. Eyes... windows to the soul... Several seconds passed before Dari finally spoke.
"...but I'm a fluid."
"Fluid might have a heart, you don't know. Mostly I think she was trying to compliment you."
"No, no, I understand, I just--I'm not even sure how I made these, it was just an instinct to--"
"Just let her have it!" Both men were laughing now. Maia received the jar again and Toby retreated to grab his drink.
"To souls!" Toby chimed from the patio table, lifting his drink up in cheers.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:20 pm
The fact that Dari was a fluid didn't matter, he still had the biggest heart. Maia took the jar, frowning at each of the men before hugging Dari. "You don't need a physical heart," she said. She grinned at Toby and shook her head.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:26 pm
"I understand what you mean. I do. It's a beautiful sentiment, thank you," Dari said. Given time and the proper elements he could build a glowing eye in the shape of a heart in his interior. It would take days and some hard work, though. The joke would be long gone by then. He smiled and hugged Maia, and then began back to the table with Toby to watch the fireflies flicker.
Toby sat down and sipped his drink, watching the light show within and above their fence.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:38 pm
Maia could've sat in her own chair, instead she sat herself on Toby's lap and studied the jar. "Do you think they'll be together by the end of the night?" she asked. Dari had said they blinked to attract mates, and they'd certainly been blinking at each other since they'd been caught.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:41 pm
Toby didn't seem to mind, just adjusting his arm so his drink wouldn't spill. The other arm remained on the chair and did not wrap around Maia.
"I never thought of it that way. Maybe they will." Did only the males flash? They couldn't, with how many there were in the sky. Were there a lot of types of firefly? He'd bet Dari could tell him, but he liked this moment as it was, quiet and gentle.
Dari barely smiled, but inside he was grinning. Look at that! An accepted lap-sit!
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