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 Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 7:02 pm
"It's just not in her nature," Dari admitted. Maia was simply too sweet to handle violence. It was repulsive to her. He was only alright with the fake sort himself. "Sure, I can do that," he said then, sitting back and watching Kevin set up the system's time and date and make his own account and set up his preferences.
Toby chuckled and then called back over his shoulder: "Oh, Maia, this teenager's kitchen is so sensual!"
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 7:31 pm
"Hey! I said no being gross!".Kevin had lost interest in the setup and went to investigate percived grossness in the kitchen. "Toby come see my new games!"
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 7:37 pm
"We just finished," Toby said with a laugh. "Sure, what have you got?"
- - -
Toby generally didn't take days off. For that reason, instead of admitting the truth later in the week, Toby told Maia that he had an important meeting outside of the HQ and wouldn't be there today. Dari was left behind to keep Maia company and answer her questions, and he did as such calmly and with confidence. When it came time to go home, he walked to Maia's office and smiled serenely, fully aware of what was going on at home.
"Are you ready?"
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 8:11 pm
Maia had been surprised; she didn't think HQ did meetings outside often--at least, she had never been made aware of one. She looked up when Dari entered. "Ready," she said. "Do you think Toby will be home?"
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 8:16 pm
"Probably," Dari said with a nod. The actual answer was a definite yes. He had been home since this morning, overseeing the work. Dari wondered how far they'd gotten with the time they'd had.
The drive home was unsurprising, at least until the house came into view. Two construction workers were taking a break in the front yard. There was a digger parked on the street.
"Hm," was Dari's only reaction. They must have already dug the hole, or else Toby was losing his mind with some extremely incompetent contractors.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 8:25 pm
Maia stared when they reached the house. Why were there construction people...? ...And a digger? She turned her attention to Dari. "Dari..." She began, "why is there a machine in front of our house?" She doubted this had anything to do with HQ. What on earth. There wasn't a secret cavern of fairies in their backyard.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 8:28 pm
Dari didn't want to ruin the surprise, and so he just shrugged and got out of the car. He rang up Toby and smiled and waved pleasantly to the workers on the lawn. They waved back.
Moments later Toby came jogging out of the house in a polo and khakis. He was clearly not in uniform.
"Hey! Welcome home!" he called. He gave Dari a hug, and then reached out for Maia's hand while he gave her a kiss.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 8:35 pm
"You weren't working, were you?" Toby wasn't in uniform. She had a feeling he'd skipped work to do whatever--whatever the guys and the digger were here for. Maia kissed Toby's cheek, and looked back to the digger on the street. "Dari won't tell me what you really did," she said, and gave him a proper kiss.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 8:39 pm
"Uh!" A long time ago, Toby had decided that he would never lie to Maia. As such, he had simply said that he had an important meeting, and he had. It just had nothing to do with work. "Not for HQ, no." He started to pull her then toward the house, and Dari followed happily. He wanted to see too!
They headed through the house and out the back door and there it was. The back yard had changed! The trees still stood and the grass was still green and sprawling. The patio and fire pit lay untouched, but one half of the yard had been dug up and currently a man was deep in a pit, lining it with what appeared to be blue plastic.
"Happy engagement, Love," Toby said, leaning over and kissing Maia's ear.
Dari grinned. It looked so nice! The yard looked more complete now somehow.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 8:51 pm
Maia looked into the pit and paused. She looked to Toby, then back to the pit. Huh. An engagement present? A big...hole? Oh! A swimming pool! Upon realization, she wrapped her arms around Toby. "Thank you!"
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 8:55 pm
Toby caught Maia's gaze, watched it wander, caught Dari's, brows rising...? Did she not...? Ah! Either Maia was happy to be given anything at all or she had realized what the hole was. Toby laughed and returned the hug.
"You're welcome! I thought you might want to swim at home. It's going to be salt-water." The salt water pool at HQ seemed to bother Maia less, and he wouldn't blame her for not wanting harsh chlorine on her skin either way. Still, it would be easier to keep up that way. "We'll get a fence too. By the end of next week!"
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 9:04 pm
It'd be nice to be able to swim at home, on days they couldn't go to the lake. On work nights or weekends--and salt water? She smiled happily. "We could invite people to come swim," she said. Maybe a pool party? She kissed Toby's cheek.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 9:15 pm
"I thought we'd have a party when it opened," Toby said. He was grinning. Good! It appeared that he'd done well! "An engagement party like we talked about, maybe. I mean, any excuse to have a party, right? You and Lori can compare rings or something, I'm not sure what people do." He chuckled and wrapped an arm around Maia, then gave her a proper kiss.
"It looks nice," Dari said, finally piping up.
"It'll look even better finished," Toby said, looking toward Dari. They shared a smile.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 10:27 pm
"A pool-engagement party," Maia said, and smiled. That sounded nice. They could invite their friends--maybe Annie would be willing to come. Maia had yet to invite the mermaid to visit. "Lori would be jealous if we did that," she said, and admired the ring on her finger. "I'm sure you've been to more engagement parties than I have." Exactly none. She returned the kiss. "I love you."
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 10:56 am
"Sure. I've been to one," Toby said. That still wasn't much, and it had been the seventies. "I love you too." He bumped her with his shoulder and then leaned in to kiss her ear. "It'll be fun. I like planning parties."
Dari stood back. So who was left of their little family to get married? Him. Hah! He smiled.
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