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 Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:44 pm
He didn't? Good. She hadn't thought he'd seen the things she'd snuck into the cart. "I couldn't resist him," Maia admitted, with a smile. "Mikey'll have a friend when he's a bit older."
"I see you in him, too," she said. Was that how it went? Would the baby learn their behavior as he grew? "He's already a light sleeper."
The baby burped and dribbled.
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 5:16 pm
"I'm sure he'll have a lot of friends. Well, people-friends too," Toby replied. He laughed gently at Maia's agreement, not wanting to upset the baby. "It gets better. When he was in a belly he didn't really know day or night or have a sense of time, so he has to learn. If we just keep him to a schedule it won't be too bad after a couple months." What was a month in the span of eternity? Or even 80 years so far?
"That's my boy," he said then, keeping up the patting, "Do you have another one?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 6:41 pm
Maia smiled and nodded. "In a few months he'll be sleeping through the night," she said. At least, that was what the books said.
Mikey gave another burp and yawned, nestling against Toby's shoulder.
"I'll take the next round," Maia promised.
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 6:44 pm
"Oh, I'm fine. I'm still awake yet," Toby said with a smile, "If you want to head to bed you can." Being awake and functioning at 6am was hard, but not so much when you went to bed early. Infants were boring during the day and exhausting in tedium, but when he got a little older he'd just be completely exhausting. It was best to start getting used to it now.
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 10:46 am
Maia sat on the rocking chair's ottoman. "I'm getting back into that up at four am mode," she said, and smiled at him. "You go get some rest, love. We might have a teenager on our hands in the morning. Something about "corrupting the youth"."
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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 12:29 pm
"Are you saying I'm corrupting him with love?" Toby asked with faux innocence. The teenage years were still a way off, if Mikey's biological father's records were any indication. He'd grow up like any kid, and eventually they could take the jammer off.
"That's all the more reason for you to sleep, though, if you're gonna be up again at four. Besides, I like feeding him. Dads don't always get this." A lot of dads didn't want it either, but that was like blasphemy to him. How could you not want to take care of your own child, and at 3 am, how could you not want to help the woman you loved, married or not?
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 3:56 pm
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Maia smirked at Toby and and shook her head at him. "You've corrupted him with love." She kissed his cheek.
"Alright," she agreed. "I love you," she gave him another kiss before leaning and kissing the baby's forehead. "Goodnight Mikey. I'll see you two in the morning."
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 4:54 pm
Toby had arrived with Dari beside him, as per usual.
Having a child was exciting and wonderful, but it also made work feel a little bit more like a break. At work it was other people in trouble, and it wasn't your fault. With a baby, Toby was constantly worried something would happen. As it was, he was hesitant to go on a mission and leave Mikey, but he knew that the first time would be the hardest regardless of how old Mikey was. It was best to start now when he was too young to know how long anybody was gone or really care. Hopefully Luca and Cody knew what they were doing.
Lori waited for everyone else to enter before he started.
"Alright, so I know this is a big group for a call like this, but nobody's totally sure what's going on. There are potentially lives at stake, but, again, nobody's totally sure. As it stands, we're the only branch with a resident ghost and a fae ambassador." He began to pass out the paperwork for the others to start looking over.
Not knowing if lives were at stake was a rough place to be. It wasn't common, but when it did happen, people had to be dispatched as soon as possible. It had to be pretty serious if the heads of two departments were going to be sent off together. Toby scanned the first couple of pages quickly.
Lori began: "So people have been getting sick in one house in Kidwelly, Wales. All males, mostly adults. They thought it might just be a normal virus, but when they left the house to be checked-out, it went away. It wouldn't be such a big deal if the doctor hadn't made a house call and gotten sick himself. He couldn't leave. The symptoms are so bad, people think they're dying. Totally incapacitated. Nobody's died, but it was bad enough for the family to pack up and leave. No reports of illness since." The elf folded his fingers together on the table. "Nobody can mark the source. Male-only selection, previous dormancy, the location, that could be fae. It's an old house, though, and the dormancy could have been a spirit, too. Nobody's seen anything. That's why we have Maia and I, and Michael as well. Dari will be a good test, if he can get sick or not. And Toby, you're good....uh."
"Bait," Toby said."
"Well, more or less."
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 5:12 pm
Maia read over the pages, frowning in concern. Two ambassadors? And two head agents? That was...unusual. Maybe even unheard of.
And...whatever it was was targeting men. Her frown deepened as she looked to Toby in concern. She didn't like this. She definitely didn't like the idea of using her husband as bait.
With the location, it could be a fae. "What do we look for?" She asked.
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 5:20 pm
"The culprit," Lori said and a little shrug of the shoulders. "If it's fae, we're hoping you can talk to them. If it's not, it's up to Michael. We're going to have a translator just in case."
"I shouldn't need one," Michael said. He had been sitting at the table the entire time, solid as could be, and was currently reading the papers over while listening. "It's best if I work alone."
Lori nodded. "Of course. We might be in the dark if the entity doesn't speak English, though."
Michael nodded back. It was fairly well-known that, if death didn't break the language barrier, Michael would pick up fluency when meeting a spirit of the proper nationality. He could only speak a little bit of Welsh now, not even conversational amounts, but he was sure he'd be fine. Besides, spirits didn't tend to like the living meddling.
"When we find out what they are, is half the team going home?" Toby asked.
"That's the plan," Lori replied, "More hands could be good too, but they're not necessary."
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 5:34 pm
Maia nodded. Hopefully the entity--whatever it was-- could be reasoned with. If the house was the fae's home, they were going to have a hard time, especially if it was an unseelie. Hopefully they could bribe it, or provide it with a home it'd be happier in, like they'd done with others.
"If it targets men, will it react badly to Michael?" She wondered.
"When do we leave?" She asked. She didn't like the idea of Toby getting sick. But maybe after whatever it was had vacated, the family that owned the house would feel safe enough to go home.
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 6:09 pm
"It might," Lori said, "but we don't have much of a choice. Michael is the only ghost on staff, male or not. They tend to just cross over."
Michael smirked. "What will they do? Kill me?"
"Because the family's vacated, the plan is to leave the Monday after next, barring any emergencies."
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 6:24 pm
"It might," Lori said, "but we don't have much of a choice. Michael is the only ghost on staff, male or not. They tend to just cross over."
Michael smirked. "What will they do? Kill me?"
"Because the family's vacated, the plan is to leave the Monday after next, barring any emergencies."
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 6:24 pm
Michael couldn't be harmed, but what if the entity refused to speak with him? Maia had never seen Michael tire after he'd whitelighted, but if it was a ghost... she didn't want Michael to wear out.
"Alright," she said. So they had time to prepare. Buy and write a list of things for the baby so Cody and Luca couldn't possibly mess up.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 9:32 am
Michael rather liked being whitelighted. Aside from the change in mood and general contentment with his afterlife, he was stronger. He was able to do more. He had been in town as if he were a normal, living man. He talked with people. As of the moment, he could appear in a driveway which was private but not entirely isolated and help his coworkers set up. There was a little less pretense this time, considering that there would be no further contact with the homeowners. They hadn't wanted to be there any more, even if it was a beautiful old house, and so the premise of investigation had been set and let go.
"I have the key," the ghost said, raising the little metal shape as he came up the walk. He stopped on the front lawn to peer up into the windows, and then went to unlock the door. It had an old feel. Satisfying. Nostalgic.
"Do you see anything?" Dari asked.
"Not yet."
"Hey, help me get this inside?" Toby asked, holding a long tripod aloft. Michael came to retrieve it.
Lori meanwhile had taken Maia out back behind the house. They were seeking a garden, or anywhere a wild fae might live aside from within the house. Inside would make more sense for their sudden waking with renovation, but one could never be totally sure.
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