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 Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 2:42 pm
Michael's smile grew and he gave a melodic laugh. Although the sad depth in his eyes never left he was clearly amused. He must have been a rather attractive man in life.
"I won't hurt you," he assured her, "I'm not even sure I can." The implication was clear, though. Maybe he could, he wasn't telling.
The spirit reached down and took Maia's hand. His own flesh was cold and dry as he brought her hand to his lips. He leaned back politely as he did so, then stood straight again. "I'm sure I'll see you again some time," he assured her, and then passed through her and back down through research, leaving the cold and an uncomfortable shiver for Maia.
Lori snickered. "Sorry about that. He's actually leaps and bounds more agreeable than when we found him, if you can believe it."
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:07 pm
Maia was shivering for a long while after Michael left. He didn't know whether he could hurt people, which meant he'd never tried (which was good), but his words hadn't especially comforted her. She wanted to do nothing more than to run to Toby's office and hug him.
"He's... Pretty friendly. Er. I was going to go see Toby now. Okay! See you tomorrow!" She took off, walking as quickly down the hall as possible without running, and she wrapped her arms around Toby. "I met your ghost."
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:18 pm
Lori shook his head, still grinning, and raised a hand to say goodbye. "See you tomorrow!"
Toby heard the footsteps coming. Someone was determined for sure. He hadn't looked at the clock to figure it may be Maia and so was surprised when she appeared and hugged him.
"Oh--" He paused, listening to what she had to say. "Ah. Did you? A little creepy, right?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:26 pm
Maia stared at Toby in disbelief. She let go of him. "No, not a little creepy," she said. "He only disappeared and reappeared and kissed me and went through me! Does that sound a little creepy to you?" She grumbled, off to sit in her chair.
"They're even creepier than I thought!"
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:32 pm
"He kissed you?" Toby asked, looking rather surprised and wholly amused. He'd never heard of Michael kissing someone. That could be very good or very bad for the future of his and Maia's relationship. "He was probably playing with you. He likes to scare the new people." And the familiar people. Any people, really. Somehow he didn't feel like that was what Maia needed to hear.
"Oh, no. Michael is creepy. There are others that are much worse. He was much worse. Some are flat-out scary. He'll at least have a conversation... or most of a conversation. Just don't ever go in his room without explicit permission."
Dari looked up from his computer. "People are more afraid of him than they are of me, most times."
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 4:12 pm
"Yeah! On the hand!" Maia made a face. Toby was amused, and this wasn't at all funny. "So he won't scare me again next time I see him?" She was honestly, rather freaked out. It wasn't every day one had a ghost walk through them
"Why would I go in his room? I'm not going to purposely seek him out! What's an ambassador, though? He told me he was one."
She looked towards Dari. "Anyone who thinks you're scary is an idiot," she informed him. Dari was like a teddy bear: sweet, kind, funny, and helped when you had trouble sleeping. "You aren't at all."
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 4:19 pm
"Oh! Oh, okay." Toby reconciled his surprise. Michael was a bit old-fashioned and openly enjoyed toying with people at times, so a kiss on the hand of someone who was clearly afraid of him made sense. He'd thought she meant the lips! That might have been a sign of something even more unsettling. "I can't promise he won't scare you. There's not much a ghost can do that isn't at least sort of creepy, right?" He settled back into his chair, hands folded over his belly, and continued to answer Maia's question. "They're sort of a go-between. Someone who can be useful in making deals or starting talks with other species. If we go to a supposedly haunted area that actually isn't, he can tell us right away. He's able to confer with other spirits as well, better than we are. More reliably. Usually the position's a little more broad, but most sentient species have something against the dead."
Dari smiled at the compliment. At least he considered it a compliment. "Thank you."
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 4:33 pm
Maia didn't like the sound of that; she'd hoped Michael would at least not go out of his way to scare her. "So you guys act as Ghostbusters, too? With the song and the ghost sucking vacuum cleaner?" She teased. She was feeling better, now that she felt she was far enough away from the ghost.
"Can't really blame them," She said. "There's all sort of myths concerning ghosts. People would stay on the beach during the summers until late and talk about them."
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 4:39 pm
"Sometimes," Toby agreed, a toothy grin spreading across his face. Less the song and the ghost traps, more the study of said creatures. There was, as of yet, no species more varied than that of dead people.
"No, of course. I was young too. Humans scare the hell out of themselves with ghost stories and probably won't ever meet one in their life. In some cultures they're considered always-evil or cursed or vengeful and that doesn't help."
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:02 pm
Toby normally picked up the mail after work and so that was exactly what he was doing on Tuesday night. It was the usual credit card offers and bills but amongst the ocean of white envelopes was a larger padded one. A-ha! It had come. He walked inside with the others and tossed the mail on the dining room table, then went at the seal on the padded envelope to pull it open.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:13 pm
"What's that?" Maia asked, looking at the mass of white envelopes on the table. Were all of those bills? Toby seemed particularly interested in one envelope today, though, she noticed. "Hey, after you're done, do you want to try to find the sea monster again? I bet we will this time." Tuesday night wasn't the best night for video games she supposed, when they had to get up early. But they cpuld for a short while, she was sure.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:25 pm
"This," Toby said, tearing off the perforated strip, "Is for you." He reached into the depths of the envelope and pulled out a little white box with a pastel blue ribbon tired around the outside. Ah, he should have known it would come in fancy packaging. Awkward.
Really, it was all sort of awkward. When they had been at the beach Toby hadn't thought he would be bonding with Maia at all. He was expecting just the usual fare and to bring her her gift when he had the time on-base. She was in his house, though. oh well. There was nothing to be done about it now. He held the box out between his fingertips and smiled. "Here."
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:58 pm
Maia was surprised. It wasn't her birthday and it wasn't Christmas, why was she getting a gift? Was it a holiday she hadn't heard of yet? "Thank you," she said, taking the little box. "I didn't get you anything, though." She looked apologetic. And she hadn't gotten Dari anything either! Oh, why had she neglected to look at the calendar?
She opened the box.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 6:09 pm
"No, it's fine," Toby assured her. He was embarrassed by this aesthetically adorable present plus the potential meaning it held. A part of him hoped Maia wouldn't think much of it.
In the box was a tiny plastic bag with a zipper seal. Within that was a coiled silver chain and a pendant of seaglass wrapped in delicate wire.
"It's, uh," Toby sighed slightly, "It's from your beach. When we went looking for shells? I thought you might want to have a piece of home with you out here."
Dari smiled and looked suddenly to Toby. He hadn't been aware of this gift. How sweet!
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 6:33 pm
Maia's expression must have dashed Toby's hopes; it was clear this present meant the world to her. She set the box aside and wrapped her arms around Toby. "Thank you so much!" She picked up the box again and took the necklace out of the bag.
She tried to put it on herself, failed, and offered it to Toby. "Can you help me?" She asked. She'd wear it forever. It was a piece of home she could keep forever.
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