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 Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 5:54 pm
"No, don't worry about everything else. If you want to try something, just say so." Actually he was probably going to buy certain things just so Maia could try them. She seemed humble enough that she wasn't going to want to ask for much lest she break the proverbial bank.
"Nobody says you have to eat salad to be healthy," he said then, "Salad is leaves and wasted vegetables." But that was just his opinion. "Reasonable tuna is canned, yeah. He eats pretty much anything, so I doubt he'd mind it canned. It also comes in little packages. Fresh fish... 'fresh' --" with one-handed airquotes, "-- fish is generally pretty expensive, and for a creature I've seen eat bugs it'd probably be a little lost. Honey, yes. They always have honey." He distinctly remembered luring Annie up to the surface with honey. It was one hell of a weak point for her type, but hey, she got lucky. They were the good guys.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:10 pm
Maia seemed concerned at Toby's offer. He wanted to buy her things? But didn't he have to save money for things? "Alright," she agreed, after a moment. "Salad tastes awful," Maia informed Toby in a whisper, "It tastes just like what you said it is. Leaves. All crunchy and...leafy." She made a face, shaking her head. "It even requires a sauce just to taste somewhat decent."
"Let's go with tuna then," Maia said. "I can catch fresh fish at the lake, and that's free. Honey's supposed to be even sweeter than sugar, is it true?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:16 pm
Toby laughed at the salad comments. "Good! I'm glad we're on the same page, Maia. It means a lot." He was teasing, of course, but he did agree!
"We'll have to teach you to fish with a rod, then, because it's a public lake. I mean, there aren't too many people there usually but a seal might be a little out-of-place. We can do that, though. Not a problem." He paused then as they pulled into a space outside the cafe. "I've... never really thought of it that way? I guess it could be? It tastes completely different. Better, in my opinion. You've never had honey before?" How would she have, living on a beach like that? "I think you'll like it."
He got out of the car and waited for Maia at the front of it to join him. Huh. People were going to assume this was a date, weren't they? Eh, let them. He'd already said as much to the cops out by Maia's beach.
"What are you thinking about getting this time?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:28 pm
"But that takes forever," Maia protested, when Toby said she should learn to use a fishing pole. She'd seen people with them. There was no way to know if they'd catch one or not, and if that one would be large enough for a meal. She'd seen people sit for hours, waiting.
"I've had honey. My mother used to bake with it. It's been a long time, though. I can't remember what it tastes like."
She climbed out of the car and reached for his hand. "I think a latte."
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:33 pm
"Yes, it does, and I never really saw the draw. I'm pretty sure Dari would cry, too, so maybe not." So Maia might have to go without fresh fish for a while. That was one of the downfalls to living in a landlocked state. At least they could relocate her into somewhere beachy or at least moderately wet.
"A latte? For breakfast? Tell me that's not all," Toby said, grinning when he walked in with her and moved to an open table. "Going grocery shopping hungry is a terrible idea. I know because I've done it."
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:47 pm
"Yeah. I don't really see the appeal of suffocating them to death," Maia made a face. Fishing with a pole was definitely not on her list of things to do. "Well. There's enough new things to try to last me a life time, I bet I'll like those better than fish anyway!" She didn't want to relocate, not after the issues she'd had with coming to Arizona.
"I don't know what I want, what are you getting?" she asked, following him inside and sitting down.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:56 pm
Well, you could also bash them on a rock, but that wasn't exactly breakfast conversation. Dari had a conniption every time he conceived that something or someone was being hurt, even fish and bugs, so fishing was well out of his range. It was different when it was fast or for survival, but fishing at the lake with a pole was neither of those things.
"Something different this time," he mused aloud. Eggs and toast and sausage were fairly run-of-the-mill as far as breakfast went, but then everything else was sweet... but was that necessarily a bad thing? Even more importantly, would his trees know he had cheated on them if he got half a grapefruit? "I don't know yet."
The menu was fairly generous for such a small cafe, but you could see them making it all right out in the open. They were only open for breakfast and lunch as well so if you weren't early you were liable to miss it.
"Hm. 'Griddle cakes.'" He'd thought that was a regional name. Were they just trying to be friendly? Either way, Maia had sort of put them in his mind.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 7:16 pm
"Can I have a cinnamon roll?" Maia asked, looking at a picture of the sweet breakfast. "Griddle cakes are pancakes, aren't they?" she shook her head. Humans had so many names for the same thing. "And a banana?" Maia had discovered that she was found of fruit; especially the sweet ones.
"Do you hate grocery shopping as much as you do cleaning?" she wondered. She was really looking forward to the trip. "I want to make you something when I learn enough. To eat."
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 7:40 pm
"Of course, whatever you want," Toby nodded, and then half-laughed. "Yeah, they're the same thing. It sounds homey-er, though, doesn't it?"
The waitress came for drink orders and then left them to make the final decision.
"Uhhh... I don't like it, but it's food, so I don't hate it either." He smiled then. Maia really was interested in learning to cook. She reminded him on and off. To him it was an honorable hobby, involved with love and family rather than personal pleasure, not that he didn't rather enjoy eating. "Sure. When ever you're comfortable. I don't mind cooking together until then." He actually liked it a lot.
"Is there anything you're excited to try?" Unfortunately the waitress returned to take food orders, so Maia was interrupted before she could respond.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 8:05 pm
"I suppose," Maia agreed. "I guess it makes sense if they're made on a griddle instead of on a pan. People in Oregon call them hot cakes." Maia smiled at him. She ordered her latte, and when the waitress left, her attention was back on Toby.
"I like cooking with you. But I want to help more. You've done so much for me and--" well, she wanted a way to thank him.
The selkie did muse over his question, but before she could answer the question, the waitress showed up.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 8:15 pm
Toby was smiling, waiting expectantly for Maia to continue, but she was stopped. Well, that was alright. They had plenty of time to talk.
He didn't particularly feel like he was doing much. Maia had been suffering, and it was his job and his desire to end as much suffering as possible. Of course he was probably a little biased because he had been one of the ones to find Maia, but still. Giving her a place to stay that didn't make her burst into tears was the least he could do.
With orders given the waitress left again. Toby wasn't sure how to continue. He took a sip of juice, watching Maia over the rim of the glass.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 8:40 pm
"I'm really excited to try spaghetti," Maia said, once the waitress left. She gave Toby a smile. "And oh, all sorts of things. There's all sorts of things I've never tried that I want to. Like shopping, and maybe hiking, seeing a forest..." She sipped at her coffee. "Do you have any dreams, Toby?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 8:44 pm
Toby's smile grew. Spaghetti. They could make that happen. Maia could probably even do most of it herself, especially if she wanted canned sauce. He had only been referring to food, but it was always nice when people expanded.
"You can do all those things," he nodded. They were easy things, but undoubtedly exciting for a first-time participant. Most people had hiked and seen forests before they were ten, and Maia never had. Her question, though. That threw him off.
"Dreams? Like sleeping-dreams?" He knew better, but he was excellent at stalling for time.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 8:57 pm
Maia shook her head. "No, like things you've always wanted to do or see," she clarified. "You've done so much with your work there's probably no where on earth You haven't been, but is there something you've always wanted to do?"
"I think my dream is to help people," she said. "I want to see the world at some point. I've got a whole life for that. I want to help people. Not like you and Dari do. Honestly I don't think I could handle it. That zombie game really scared me." And they probably met scarier things regularly.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:01 pm
Boy, that had gone a little deeper than he'd hoped. For a moment he struggled for a proper response, and then just sighed and went with the truth.
"I did once. I love what I do." It was half an instant of vulnerability and half a diversion. He loved his job too, why didn't they just talk about his job? There was a flicker or something other than amusement or confidence in his eyes but it might have taken a good friend to notice.
"There are a lot of ways to help people out there. All kinds of people."
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