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 Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:18 pm
Maia hesitated. Instead of continuing to question him, she slid her hand across the table till it met his. She gave his hand a quick squeeze and let go. Something had clearly gone wrong. Some thing had taken his dreams from him, that much was clear. "Well. Maybe this year you'll find new dreams. Have you ever been to the bottom of the ocean?"
She took the hint. "You're great at what you do," she said.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:23 pm
Toby pulled his hand back before Maia could reach it. He understood wanting to comfort people but he wasn't the most comfortable with physical forms of affection. He laughed a little awkwardly and shook his head.
"I haven't. We have the technology, it's just a bit removed from what we do normally. I mean, if we had a report, of course we would, but I we haven't yet." You didn't have to touch the bottom in blackness to look for a monster. "Unless you mean while snorkeling in which case, yes."
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:39 pm
"Well, there you go. Maybe you'll find a creature no one's discovered yet. Dari told me there's loads no ones even thought of." She gave him a smile, sipping at her drink. "And maybe some are right in plain sight. I know there's some fish people haven't discovered. It'd be arrogant to believe anyone had discovered all of them." She considered this, taking another sip.
"I'd go to the bottom of the ocean with you. But no promises on survival. Its terrifying down there, in the darkness."
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:42 pm
"Humanity doesn't know anything about anything," Toby said, shaking his head. "They think they've explored everything, seen everything, and then someone finds a frog the size of a dime. I've seen things people couldn't even imagine--"
The waitress returned with their food. "--thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Amazing things. Awful things. I've been here a while." He smirked, beginning in on his pancakes.
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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:00 am
Maia pondered this. She smiled at Toby, cutting a piece off her cinnamon roll with her fork. She took a bite chewed thoughtfully, she swallowed. "I'm sure I've seen things you haven't," she said. Just as he'd seen things she hadn't. "I'd like to see places you've been to." She cut another piece off. "These are really good," she said happily.
"Can we make these at home?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:04 am
"I'm sure," he agreed. Most of his studies were on land and he'd only rarely be in the water himself. There were definitely things he hadn't seen that had already been categorized by science. It was just how these things worked. "Well, some of the places I've been are restricted but a lot of others are just free and open, if you wanted to go see." Of course he wasn't supposed to share exact locations, but Maia hadn't asked.
He nodded then, chewing and swallowing before responding. "Yeah, sure. There are ones you can buy in tubes and just pop them in the oven, but they never turn out like that." He gestured to Maia's roll. "Sometimes I can handle cake mix, but things-in-tubes seems like a last-resort sort of deal."
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:20 am
"I want to see that forest," Maia said. The forest itself had seemed magical when Dari had shown her pictures. "Could I go with you next time? It was beautiful in pictures! I'm sure it's even more beautiful in person." And she might be able to meet other fae.
Maia made a face. Tube cinnamon rolls? That sounded horrible! "Let's make them like this one," she suggested, cutting another piece off her cinnamon roll. Cake mix? Hm. Couldn't they do everything from scratch? That seemed like more fun. "Those are the boxes that have all the ingredients?" she asked, shaking her head."I'm sure we can find a good recipe. I really like cooking with you."
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:22 am
Toby just nodded. He wasn't going to tell her now that the only people allowed to enter under FBPI provisions were agents and certain other branches of employee. A random civilian could wander into the forest lost, but they couldn't be brought in officially. That was a talk for another day.
"Yeah, definitely," Toby smiled and nodded. "Yup. When they first came out, all you had to add was water, but people felt like they weren't making anything, so they made it so you have to add water and egg, sometimes oil, and people bought them like crazy. Me personally, I prefer scratch if I have the time."
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:35 am
Maia wrinkled her nose at the idea of just adding water. That sounded like pure laziness. "Let's make our cupcakes from scratch," she decided. It sounded like the better option: who knew what they put in those boxes? She took a bite of her cinnamon roll, chewed, swallowed, and said, "You told me about rescues, can I visit one?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:38 am
Toby nodded. Sure. It was going to be a hell of a lot more ingredients to do from scratch but they'd taste a hell of a lot better. He hoped so, anyway. his brow furrowed then and his head tilted.
"Rescues? What do you mean?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:44 am
"For animals. You said there were several here. I want to visit one," Maia said. "And learn about them. I know all about sea life, but I don't know much about other animals. Oh, maybe a zoo would be better..." She considered this a moment. "What do you think?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:49 am
"Oh! Well we could probably get you set up with a tour of one, if you wanted. They're not generally open to the public, and domestic animal rescues are really only interested in people wanting to adopt," Toby reasoned aloud. He didn't do much work with preservation aside from what was assigned to him at HQ, but at a federal level it would be easy to find information.
"Zoos are... uh." He made a bit of a face. "I don't think you'd like the zoo." Animals in cages, small habitats, doing a whole lot of nothing, laying bored and peering at tourists only semi-interestedly. He didn't even really like them himself. As a kid he'd been excited to see all of the animals, but as he grew and learned more about the world and the creatures in it, it seemed a lot more like a prison.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 9:05 am
"I'd like that," Maia smiled. "Thank you." A tour would be nice. "Do you think I could help out?" she asked, considering. So she wouldn't like the zoo? She didn't ask why, instead blinking at him. He was probably right, he knew the area better than she did. She took a bite of her cinnamon roll, chewing thoughtfully. She swallowed.
"Do you think Dari's alright alone?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 9:10 am
"I don't know the protocol for accepting volunteers," Toby admitted, offering a little shrug and a shake of his head. The FBPI certainly didn't have any room for any. It wasn't safe to just let anyone come in. One Pixie sighting and they'd be running off to tell the press.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, he's fine." It was either make himself up to come with them or be alone somewhere else. It couldn't be the most entertaining of lives but he checked in with Dari often. The guy was always surprisingly upbeat. Toby thought he didn't have much of a choice, at least not until they found some better technology or magic.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 9:26 am
"I'll ask when I visit," Maia assured him. She took a sip of her latte, looking over her cup at him. "Which do you like better, cats or dogs?" She asked.
"I'm going to call him later and check," the selkie said. It didn't seem she was entirely convinced. What if Dari was lonely, while they were away? There was no one there for him to talk to, and surely the people he played with online weren't the same?
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