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 Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:32 pm
Maia went to meet Toby at the bottom.of the stairs. "Dari says to tell you how happy I am I get to stay here," she said. "I've never had friends like you and Dari before. You two are so kind. And you're letting me live here, and I wanted a way to repay you. But Dari says all you want is for me to be happy." She gave him another hug. There weren't words really, for how happy she was.
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:37 pm
Toby was a bit surprised to have his egress blocked by a sudden selkie, but he figured she had something to say. He offered her a smile before she began speaking and it remained as she continued while the look in his eyes definitely change. It was indeterminable, but a bit softer than his usual gaze.
"Well. I'm glad it means so much to you." Once again he accepted the hug. They'd crossed the line into roommate territory. Hugs were nothing. What in the world had Dari told her to do, though? He glanced over to the alien and just found him smiling placidly. b*****d.
"Are you about ready to go?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 8:11 pm
"Dari, you said he'd be happy," Maia protested when Toby gave little change in his expression. She glanced at the alien; maybe Toby did want some thing in return, after all?
"I'm ready," she said. She was sure she'd tire of sundresses soon--what did one wear when they wanted a bit of variety?
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 12:04 pm
Dari laughed and Toby looked to him.
"He is happy," the alien assured Maia. Toby could be a hard man to read if he wasn't blatantly upset or drunkenly honest. Toby just shook his head in disbelief, still smiling, and turned to Maia.
"Alright. Let me just grab my bag and we can go." And like that, the three of them were off.
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 12:39 pm
"What are you two working on today?" Maia asked as they got into Toby's car. Had they found someone new to help? What did they do when they weren't helping people? She didn't think Toby was the type to sit in his office all day. "Or do you find out when you get there?"
She set her things on the empty seat in the back. "Can I stay in your office until time for classes, or do you have a meeting?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:55 am
"Well, we finished the workup on your case so at least that's over. Usually we find out when we get there, but by default we're in case management. Trying to find a place for the dragon, taking calls from beacons, that sort of thing," Toby responded.
"He has his own project as well," Dari added.
"And so does he. But anyway, you should be able to hang around. There won't be a meeting just yet." But there would be once the big boss found out that Toby had taken Maia home. It wouldn't be so bad.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:13 am
"What sort of projects?" Maia asked, curiously. "Or are they secret?" She was interested to know what they got up to while at work. "Maybe that Kelpie will call you, since you gave him that beacon. I thought they were too much trouble. Phones seem much easier." But of course, for creatures that couldn't read, It was the obvious option.
"Alright, I'll come hang out in your office."
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:47 am
"They're regarding our particular, uh... species." Sure, that was a fine word. Toby pulled out of the driveway around Dari's car and continued talking. "Technically they're secret government operations so I can't really say more than that." New entities, trustworthy or not, were not to be fed information.
As Toby had promised, today was the day. Lori spent most of their time explaining Maia's new accouterments to her. She now had an ID card, a passport, a cellphone and a bank account. It was the latter that took the most explaining. He had to go over the process of finding a job and how their supplementary income worked, then how to use a debit card and view her banking. Rumor had it that Toby had taken the selkie home, though, so he was sure she'd have some actual practice at all of this before long.
The next couple of days went as could be expected. They'd wake up, eat breakfast (Toby had woken early enough to bring Maia to a little cafe once), go to work, have classes, go home, cook dinner (Toby was delighted by how eager Maia was to learn), hang out, go to sleep. Maia was throwing the werewolf out of the groove of his routine but he was beginning to enjoy it. She was good company, open-minded and willing to learn. There had been a meeting about bringing an entity home, which was generally against the rules, but Toby explained himself with confidence and assured his boss that absolutely nothing untoward was happening, just like with Dari. The boss had given up, reluctantly.
On their first day off, the gang woke with plans. Maia had wanted to go to the mall, after all. After a hardy breakfast they were off to another neighborhood, to the enormous 2-story building just a short ways from the highway. Toby entered the parking lot and began looking for a decent space.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:36 pm
Maia had been most excited by the cellphone. A passport and id would be useful; she could go to different places without any trouble. But a phone! This way she would be able to contact Toby and Dari and any other friends she made.
The next few days had been wonderful. Today was going to be even better, she decided as she spotted the huge building. She'd never seen anything like it. "This is the mall?" She asked, wide eyed. Well, there would certainly be something to buy here! "Do you think they have a restaurant inside?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:50 pm
"I think they do," Toby said with a nod, He couldn't remember what one or where, though. "They also have a food court with a bunch of different things like fast food and pizza and Chinese food. Nothing good for you, but it still tastes pretty good." He was grinning. Maia seemed excited already and they hadn't even gone inside. "Come on."
The boys got out of the car and began toward the mall entrance. Both were dressed casually, as they had been when Maia had first arrived.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:04 pm
"I've never had Chinese," Maia said, thoughtfully. Pizza was good, too. "Lets stay for lunch and go there," she said. She climbed out of the car, following the guys. "You two look so much better this way," she said. The suits made them look so serious.
Which probably was the look they wanted. "Where do you want to go first?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:07 pm
"Alright, we can do that," Toby replied, looking to Dari for confirmation. Dari nodded. Then Maia commented in their outfits and Toby looked down at himself and laughed. A t-shirt and jeans? Most girls got all hot and bothered about a man in a suit, but apparently not Maia! "Thank you?"
They entered into an entryway with a drink machine and an American cuisine restaurant to their left, and then the mall opened up. Shops could be seen lining either side of a broad walkway, clothes and trinkets and DVDs and anything a girl could want. Toby shoved his hands half into his pockets.
"Well, what do you want to look at first?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:49 pm
There were so many things to look at! Maia took hold of Toby's arm, having spotted a clothing store. "Come on, you have to help me pick." Outfits and coordinating colors tended to be beyond her; she had stuck to sundresses for the most part: they were simple and women often wore them to the beach.
"After, let's go to a game store and then you can pick." She'd never seen so many places she wanted to go to at once. There were stores full of movies, toys, jewelry... Humans required a lot of things didn't they?
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:51 pm
Shopping malls were less than necessary, but people really did seem to enjoy them. Dari grinned at Maia's sudden closeness to his partner and they continued forward into a store clearly meant for twenty-somethings. Toby was not the best at coordination either, but he thought he might be alright. After all, there was nobody else to blame. He had agreed to this.
"Okay, whatever you want," he said. Skirts, leggings, fancy blouses... "Uhh..."
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:08 pm
Maia released Toby's arm, hurrying to the store. She glanced around; everything was nice, she was sure it'd be expensive. Hm. She waited for the boys to enter the store. "I don't know what I want," she said. Did she try all of it on? She saw a sign towards the back that read 'Dressing Room'.
"What do you like?"
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