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 Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 11:47 am
"I won't," he assured Toby, with a roll of his eyes. "Alright, deal. Now get out of here before I change my mind. Go on." He pointed towards the car. "I need rest." And to finish this wonderful, wonderful thing in peace. He'd have to buy these more often, when he had the money.
"How do I contact you, then?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:49 pm
Ah, teenagers.
"Tomorrow we'll come back and get you a Beacon. You just active that and we'll know you need something. It allows us to communicate as well, so don't steal any cell phone either. You could use a pay phone too, if you could find one. Have a good night, and thanks."
Dari began to the car and Toby followed, offering an apologetic smile to Maia and opening the door so she could crawl inside. The poor dear looked exhausted.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:00 pm
The kelpie muttered something that might have been: "Spoilsport," before heading towards the lake. He looked back over his shoulder. As long as they kept their word came back tomorrow, he didn't need to worry. He'd have plenty of food. And a car! And a beacon, whatever that was. "Bye!"
Maia rewarded Dari with a brief hug, climbing into the car.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:05 pm
Dari accepted the gesture and made sure Maia was safely inside before closing the door. He slid into the passenger's seat once more and in moments they were back off down the road toward the hotel. Hopefully a little mud on the tires wasn't going to cost them their deposit.
When they made it back to the hotel it was dark and cool. Toby got out to open the door or Maia and found her dead asleep. The poor thing. She'd had one hell of a day. Rather than wake her and make her walk to their room, he leaned in and softly picked her up, pulling her out of the car and carrying her bridal-style. Dari took the keys and locked the car up and then they made their trek up to the hotel room. Dari peeled back the covers and Maia was tucked into bed. Then the alien was removing his makeup and the werewolf his clothing as he changed into a pair of brown plaid pajama pants and nothing else. He sighed and curled up in the arm chair to sleep the night away. Dari meanwhile went to the computer to occupy his time before or after he decided to trance out, if he did at all.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:31 pm
It wasn't until late that Maia awoke. She had opened her eyes to find herself in the hotel room, stunned. How had she gotten here? Last she remembered, they'd been on their way back from the hotel-- that was it. One of them must have brought her in. She looked around: Toby seemed to be asleep. The chair probably wasn't that comfortable. And he wasn't wearing a shirt. That kept her attention for a while.
She had to veer her eyes away, moving to sit on the edge of the bed and then standing. Was Dari asleep too? She moved to look in the mirror. Huh. Sleeping in bed really did a number on her hair.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:39 pm
Dari shifted when the girl rose, turning to look at her from the desk. The first night was always the hardest and if Maia was going to try to escape, it would undoubtedly be within the next couple of days. That would be why her pelt was kept in a digital safe that only Toby knew the combination for. He was only curious at the moment, though, watching her approach the mirror and inspect her hair. Was this the longest she had gone without transforming?
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:56 pm
Maia didn't notice Dari at first, preoccupied. He hadn't stayed in this form so long, not in a long time. Not since she had been invited to a child's birthday party on the beach when she'd been small. The kid had dragged her around the beach exclaiming at starfish and crabs.
She turned to look at Dari. "Don't you sleep?" she asked. She couldn't imagine a creature not requiring rest. "We're going to the beach tomorrow. It's going to be wonderful."
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:59 pm
"Not really, no," Dari admitted, "I can achieve something like it if I'd like. Is there anything you need?" After all, it wasn't quite morning yet and she'd risen. Having an attack of the nerves was understandable.
Meanwhile Toby had sleepily heard the conversation start and shifted in his sleep, heading for a shallower status.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 2:11 pm
"No," she said with a shake of her head. There were several things she would have liked, her pelt being number one on that list, but she knew they wouldn't give it to her. "How about the combination to the safe?" she suggested, sticking out her tongue to let him know she was teasing. She didn't plan on escaping, not when She feared the cameramen might still be camping out on the beach, waiting for her to transform.
"He's very handsome, isn't he?" Her attention had landed on Toby.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 3:24 pm
Dari smiled in quiet amusement.
"I wouldn't know it even if I wanted to tell you," he said. Really she might have only been half-joking, but the fact that she hadn't tried to pry the safe open with a crowbar said something about her. Maybe the threat of humanity had finally settled in. Of course not all humanity was evil, they didn't all want her hurt, but the draw of the unexplained rarely brought gentle sorts.
He turned to Toby, still asleep in the chair, and shrugged.
"I suppose so. I think he is anyway, but I may be biased." He touched his own chin, sliding thumb and forefinger across either side. "I did base myself off of some of his stronger features." The whole story was much more genuine and meaningful than all that, but there was no reason to burden Maia with stories.
Toby had heard that, though. He smiled, eyes still closed as if sleeping.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 4:34 pm
So Toby was the only one who knew the combination. Maia filed that under semi useful information. Technically that made her his, though she preferred to think of it in reverse. "You're very handsome too," Maia said, glancing at Dari. For a jelly-alien. "So you must have spent a lot of time with him to do that. Your human form is much better than your seal form."
She glanced towards Toby again. "I think he's awake,"she said. "Go back to sleep, Toby. You can have the bed, if you like. I'm going to investigate your computer."
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 6:19 pm
"Yes, quite a lot of time," Dari agreed with a nod, "and thank you." She was probably just saying it to be nice, but that was fine. He still had coworkers who stared. For someone to be unafraid was rather refreshing.
Toby didn't move and didn't acknowledge that Maia had spoken at all. It was best to just keep pretending to be asleep, at least until something interesting happened. He did shift slightly in the chair, though, and try to slip back away. It was too late to be up... or was it too early at this point? He didn't care. His days of sleeping in were long gone. His body stirred him awake just around 6, 8 if he was truly exhausted, and he rarely made it even that long. He was defying his nature in remaining diurnal.
"If you need any help, just ask," Dari offered, watching her go to the desk. He didn't imagine wild selkies used computers often.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 6:42 pm
"Tell me the story sometime," Maia invited. She would have liked to hear how Toby and Dari met, she was sure it made for an interesting tale. "So how do I make this thing work?" she asked, sitting down at the desk. When she'd help in the library, the woman had simply read her the recipe she'd wanted. "What can it do? Oh, oops." She'd pressed the spacebar, the computer reacting with an error noise.
"I broke it," she said, apologetically.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 6:47 pm
"Sure, any time you'd like," Dari offered with a smile. When Maia approached, he stood and allowed her to take the chair. He remained nearby though, just in case. The poor thing touched the space bar and it told her 'no' and she seemed to immediately give up.
"No, no, it's not broken," he assured her. He took control of the mouse, looming over her and going back to Google. "What do you want to see?" He clicked the search box and stood back.
Toby meanwhile found their chatting interesting, near, and loud enough to at least turn his head and watch for a little while.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 7:01 pm
Not broken? Maia watched as Dari took control of it. Huh. What a strange machine. What did she want to see? "It can show anything?" she asked, with some awe. How could humans have built this? It must have been magic. They must have had help. "Show me one of the places you've been," she requested.
She hoped to get a story to go along with the picture. "What else can it do?" she asked.
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