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 Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:17 pm
Maia didn't really want the day to end: she didn't want to be alone: but the tablet wasn't altogether interesting when she didn't know how to use it, and Toby had missed his home. She moved to stand next to Dari, folding her arms across her chest. "Will you visit me?" She asked. "Since you're staying here tonight?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:20 pm
"Sure, if you'd like me to," Dari said, offering a small smile and a nod. The plan had been to remain just to keep an eye on her where generally he kept Toby company at his house if he wasn't on-shift. There were upsides and downsides to not requiring sleep.
"The apartments are actually outside. ..."outside." You're at no more risk there than in the basement of HQ," Toby explained, "They're a little simple, but they're not so bad." So they began down the hall.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:42 pm
"I'd like that. We can play snake or something." And it'd distract her from the lump she felt steadily growing in her throat. Whatever it was, she thought it felt vaguely familiar. Simple. Huh. She was used to the ocean, when she wasn't in her house. Would it feel confining? Small? Would it be uncomfortable? Probably. Humans could talk all they liked of the coziness of their home, but they'd never had the waves to rock them to sleep.
She followed Toby down the hall.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 4:39 pm
At least they were on the proper floor. I was just down a hallway and out a door. From a bird's eye view they would have disappeared from sight. In actuality they were simply crossing a strand of dirt to get to the apartments. The building was only two floors high, but was lined with windows. Toby held open the door for the others.
"So for all intents and purposes, we're invisible at the moment. This whole half of the compound is shielded, because one drone could mean the whole world knowing about centaurs and things." Of course only a few people lived there now. Humanoid entities tended to want to go into society where those who could not pass for human usually only stayed a while before relocation.
The building was climate-controlled and Toby approached the woman behind the front desk.
"Hey, Jeannie. We have our tenant for room two-oh-six."
The woman went under the table and came back with a key, an actual one this time, unlike the hotel. Toby accepted it with a smile and an expression of his thanks and then headed up the stairs.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 5:38 pm
"Centaurs?" she echoed, curious. Weren't those the horse people? What kind of things, she wondered. She didn't know what Toby meant by drones, but she figured it wasn't a good thing. "And I only have to stay until I'm done with schooling?" she asked.
The lump had settled, but at least it no longer felt as if it was growing. "Dari's going to visit and play snake."
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 6:00 pm
Toby nodded. "Yeah, I've known a couple centaurs, and you only have to stay as long as you want to. You get to choose how long you stay, what you want to do, how much you want to learn and where you want to end up. Nobody here can force you to do anything." Of course he hoped he'd be able to get her situated happily somewhere where she could be a human and a seal whenever she liked. That was always ideal, for people to just be able to continue their lives as they wished.
"Oh, is he? Good." The first night could be hard, but he didn't want to scare her. He put the key in the lock and turned it, pulling the door open. Inside was a fairly basic apartment painted white. The first area was the living room, already outfitted with a television, couch, arm chair, and a nearly-empty bookcase graced with a clock and a binder of official information and nothing else beside an arm chair. The phone sat on the coffee table. Beyond that, there was a bathroom to the left and a short hall to the center that led to the kitchen and small dining area. The bedroom was behind a cocked-open door on the right. It was just the basics, and it could be a little lonely or clinical before it was touched-up. He personally hadn't liked the damn things at all, but it was all they had to offer. Maia's bags were likely in her bedroom.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 6:36 pm
Maia stared at the apartment with increasing horror. Basics, and while she would make it more homey with the things she'd brought, it would never feel like home. "Well," She managed, "this is...nice." She went to look for her bags, keen to decorate the lonely looking living room. She found her room and bags and opened them.
She threw clothing around the room, hoping to make it feel more lived in. "The bed's quiet," She complained, after seating herself on it. "Hey Toby. What do we do now?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 6:40 pm
Toby sighed. "...yeah. It's... yeah, I know."
He'd hated his apartment and had almost nothing to bring with him, but he'd been forced to live in here a long time between stints in the medical ward. There was little they could do but follow her to the bedroom doorway and watch her toss her clothes around. Toby tilted his head. That was an interesting reaction.
"Yeah. They're pretty comfortable, though," he said. He was blatantly trying to offer positives when the place was oddly barren. He looked down at his watch and his lips pushed side to side.
"Well, we have to give a report in thirty-four minutes." He looked to Dari. "Well, one of us does, at least. Someone can help you unpack if you want?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:34 pm
Comfortable, ha. The chair in the hotel had been comfortable. She didn't respond to Toby, only flopped herself down onto the bed. "This place stinks," she informed the two. "No wonder entities are so keen to leave." Hospitable, yes. Comfortable? No.
"I don't need help unpacking." she pointed to the floor. "This place is so white it's blinding." She couldn't imagine unseelies enjoying their rooms very much. She hopped off of her bed and began to pace the room. "Can you stay?" she asked, glancing towards Dari.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:40 pm
Toby shrugged and his mouth pushed over to one side. Alright, so it did kind of stink. It was the best they could do. This was a federal program, after all, not a charity. He could potentially get them to bend the rules about the paint on the walls if Maia was going to stay a while. They were the first thing he had noticed and immediately disliked. It reminded him of the hospital.
Dari nodded. "I'm sure I can stay."
Toby turned to him and waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, I should be fine. It's just official new-person bullcrap."
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:47 pm
"Good," Maia said, pausing in her pacing to go over to Dari's side. She reached for his hand. "I don't think any amount of mess I make is going to make it feel any more like home," she observed, quietly. New person stuff? So they were putting in a report about her.
"What is there to do here?" she asked. "Games?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:51 pm
Dari took Maia's hand without question. He didn't acknowledge her displeasure with the apartment. In his opinion it wasn't a whole lot better than the lab, save the fact that it had a kitchen.
"Sure. We have board games and things. If you'd like I can go get my computer." He did have one, and it did have quite a few games on it that were not computer-standard. It was hard to kill the 8 hours or so everyone else liked to sleep.
Toby shifted a bit, then thrust a thumb at the door. "Should I, uh. Just go?" He wasn't sure. Everyone bonded with one person over the others, it was just nature. It admittedly wasn't usually Dari, though.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:02 pm
"Board games?" That seemed to strike Maia's attention. "We can play on your computer when you visit later, if you like." What was a board game like? She'd never played more than hide n seek and tag with children on the beach as she'd grown up.
She glanced at Toby. "You can come back after," She invited him. "Then you can tell me what you told them about me. But I'm not really all that interesting..." Huh. Protocol was no fun. "Do you have a favorite?" she asked, glancing back to Dari.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:28 pm
"Whatever you'd like," Dari said with a nod and a smile. He wasn't necessarily the best choice for social interaction but at least Maia seemed to enjoy his company. Most board games weren't made for just two players, but they could try.
Toby almost laughed. Well, so much for him! He pointed at the pair and out of the room, shaking his head. He'd find something to do for a half hour. Clearly he wasn't invited to the disappointment party. Dari watched him go a moment and then turned back to Maia. "No, I don't keep many favorites. We can go look, though. I've played a lot of them." Handling small pieces had been a part of his dexterity training after all.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 11:14 pm
"I've never played a board game before," she said. She'd been going Dari would pick one. She figured there weren't many in Gaelic: and wasn't completely sure Dari was fluent in it, though he'd seemed to hint that he knew more than Toby did. "Which ones have you played? Where do they keep them?" She asked. She felt a bit awkward, with Toby gone. She looked towards the door.
"Do you think I hurt his feelings? I invited him back."
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