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 Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 9:51 am
Toby nodded, and then thought about the question. "Cats, I think." They made less mess and less noise and they loved you just as much, contrary to the beliefs of pop culture. Toby had had both growing up and would happily house either, but if he had to choose it was cats.
"Alright," he said then, pushing his empty plate to the side and finishing off his juice. It seemed silly that Maia was so worried about Dari, but then she hadn't known him for long. She hadn't been with him while he grew.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:08 am
"Me too," Maia said. She'd interacted with dogs before, they had often come to the beach with their masters. They were noisy and barked at everything (including her, the waves when they hit the shore, crabs...). "Well, I'd only seen cats from a distance before Seamus." And she knew better than to assume all cats were as great as the cat sidhe was.
She finished her cinnamon roll and set her plate next to Toby's. She finished off her latte. "Ready to go?" she asked.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:13 am
Toby felt like Maia might have been slightly biased. She had definitely fallen for Seamus, but it wasn't like most animals could understand English and give intelligent interaction. He was still quite a bit catlike, though.
"Well, I have to pay," Toby said with a smile, "Then, yes." He caught their waitress' attention to retrieve their bill and left her a decent tip. It was in his nature to back up anyone who didn't purposefully stiff him. That being done, he stood and smiled to Maia again.
"To the store?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:28 am
"Let's go," Maia agreed, once Toby had stood. She followed suit. "I like this cafe," she said, with a smile. It was almost as good as the stuff Toby made at home. Almost. She offered him her hand on the way out of the cafe.
"I'll follow the rules," she promised. "Can I pick something out to share, though? And one for you to steal from?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:31 am
Toby tucked his hands into his pockets. It was his number-one aversion tactic until he had to pull out the keys to unlock the car.
"What, you're not going to share everything?" Toby asked. In general he wasn't used to people having their own special food in his fridge. It had only ever been him and Dari here. If Maia didn't want to share, though, he didn't really see the harm.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:44 am
Unfazed by Toby's failure to take her hand, Maia let her arm fall to her side.
"Of course I'm going to share," She said. She'd never had someone to share with, she wasn't going to pass that up. "I meant for tonight. A desert or something. I don't know what they sell. I don't know what you like, even. So you'll have to help me pick it out."
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:49 am
"Oh! Oh, sure. Yeah, that'll be nice," Toby agreed as he started the car up and they headed out to the streets again. This was undoubtedly going to be the longest grocery trip of his life. At least it would only be once. From here on out Maia was liable to have a better understanding of the place and need to do less investigating.
"There's a bakery. They usually have cakes and things. And the ice cream aisle." Ah, hell. He'd forgotten to make rules about ice cream. Did they need another? "I'll help, but I like pretty much everything."
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:09 am
Maia was immediately interested. Her eyes had widened slightly and she stared at Toby. "An ice cream aisle?" she asked, eagerly. Could you buy ice cream cones in bulk? Or maybe just ice cream? "I'll get us some ice cream," she decided.
"Do you have a favorite?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:14 am
Oh boy. Now he'd gone and done it.
"We can look when we get there," he urged. "It comes in packs or tubs but only one, alright? Too much sweet stuff means for an out-of-shape federal agent." He was amused by her excitement. How nice it was when outside clients first came and every little thing was exciting. He liked to be a part of all of this, especially before the sense of normalcy kicked in.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:31 am
Packs or tubs, Maia was fascinated. So it didn't come in prepackaged cone form? Did they have to buy the cones seperately? "Just one," She agreed. "And two from the other aisles. ...That's a bit too much sugar though," she said, considering. "Maybe I'll get one from the other aisles and try one thing from both every time we go shopping." Too much sugar and she'd be up all night.
"How far is it?" she asked.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:34 am
Toby grinned. Oh good. No matter how childlike Maia seemed sometimes he was reminded again and again that she had a good head on her shoulders. Too much sugar was bad. He'd met plenty of fae who didn't really agree, who would never agree, but they didn't have to fuss over human forms.
"Only about ten minutes. Why?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:41 am
"I'm excited to get there," Maia said, by way of explanation. She wanted to see everything: she wasn't sure what to expect, Toby didn't seem all that excited; but that might have been a guy thing. He hadn't seemed that enthused about a mall trip when she'd first suggested it, either.
"I wonder if Seamus likes cupcakes?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:51 am
"Seamus will eat pretty much anything you give him," Toby nodded, "He's a weird sort of thing. If you give him a mode of communication he can answer questions, but he still gets in the tree at Christmas and knocks all the ornaments out. They're all plastic. Most of the time you can just treat him like a cat, but you always have to remember he's got that small percentage of person in him. I'd love to see what goes in in his head." He smiled softly, fondly. The cat sidhe was mostly Lori's companion if not just because he preferred to hang out in Research and the elf was willing to care for him. Seamus played favorite for sure, but the other fae always got first pick.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:02 pm
"I'll make him one then," Maia said, smiling. "I wish I could understand him. I know he likes me, he helped me when I asked, led me all the way to your office. And he came to class with me, then he visited me."
She seemed intrigued when he spoke of Christmas. "You have a Christmas tree at HQ?" she asked. "Oooh. Then I can get you and Dari presents! And Seamus and Lori!" She beamed. "Its right around my birthday. Before the fireworks."
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:39 pm
"Lori didn't show you?" Toby asked. Generally the elf liked to show off his furry friend's tricks to new clients. Write 'yes' and 'no' on a piece of paper in English or Gaelic and he'd touch the proper response. Give him a riddle and there was a small chance he could answer it for you on an alphabet sheet. He definitely understood people, he'd demonstrated that plenty of times. "You'll have to ask him to, it's pretty cool." He'd do it himself but then he'd feel like he was stealing away Lori's chance to show off.
"Oh, no. I mean. Yes. It's just for decoration, though. There's so many people who work at HQ that we can't even really set up a Secret Santa or anything. Gift-giving's pretty hush-hush around Christmas. But what's this about your birthday? What is it?" Somewhere between the general area of Christmas and "the fireworks" so... New Years? That was his guess. Maia hadn't provided one initially and then someone else had been tasked with entering it into the system. She had an ID so she had to have an official unofficial birthday.
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