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 Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 6:41 pm
Toby was watching her out of the tops of his eyes like a puppy who had just soiled the rug. When she came to hug him he accepted the gesture and hugged her back.
"You're welcome," he said, relenting to the fact that Maia actually appreciated it. Was this inappropriate? He wasn't sure.
"Oh, uh. Sure, yeah." He took the necklace carefully and found the front, then looped it around Maia's neck and clasped it at the nape. There. He felt Dari nudge him.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 6:53 pm
Why did Toby seem cautious? Maia stepped back to study him. Had he thought she wouldn't like it? But how could she not? He'd been thinking of her the very day they'd met: he'd brought something from her home. And she'd been considering escaping from him.
"You're not happy," she observed, smile fading slightly.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 6:58 pm
Luckily when Maia turned to him again he was smiling. It had made her happy, wasn't that all that mattered? So maybe it wasn't the sort of gift people generally bought for near-strangers, but he was a thoughtful kind of guy. What was the worst that could happen?
"No, I'm happy. I was nervous, but I'm happy you like it." It looked nice on her too. Good. This was all good, he assured himself. Look at her smile.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 7:07 pm
Ah, so he had been nervous! But why, she wondered. "I love it," She assured him, giving him another hug. She released him after a moment and looked to Dari. "What do you think?" She asked. It was beautiful enough it'd go nicely with her entire wardrobe. And it wouldn't matter if it didn't. She wasn't planning on taking it off.
"Are you ready to go find the sea monster?" she askef, reaching for Toby's hand. "Come on. I bet I see it first."
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 7:11 pm
Toby returned the hug again and laughed. Okay, so maybe she really loved it. He was glad he still had it, he guessed.
"Oh, uh. Sure. Dari, are you going to join us?" This time he let Maia take his hand, partially because she was so excited and partially because they were inside his own house and it didn't really matter. She'd hold it for twelve seconds while they got to the living room and that would be it.
"Of course," Dari said with a nod, flashing his black, translucent teeth in a grin. He followed the pair casually. Hm...
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:18 pm
Toby was right, it was about twelve seconds until Maia let go of his hand, but it wasn't because she reached for a controller. She instead dropped it in favor of holding her pendant. It was a piece of home. And while she knew her heart also held a piece of it, this was physical. And made so much better because Toby had found it for her.
"This is the best gift anyone's ever given me," she said, looking to Toby. She meant it. "Except maybe your friendship. Yours and Dari's. You gave me that too." She waited for him to turn the Xbox on.
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:55 pm
Toby broke away to turn on the console either way and released Maia's hand. He smiled back at her as he did so. There were very few instance in one person's life where someone was this grateful for a gift.
"Good, I'm glad."
Dari entered then and plugged in the controllers, bringing them over.
"Do you want to see if there's anything to fight the angler at the base, or do you want to try looking elsewhere?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 7:23 pm
Maia looked to Dari as he entered. She didn't like the idea of seeing that angler fish again--what if it popped up in front of them and attacked again? "Lets explore first. If we can't find the sea monster elsewhere, we'll fight the fish." She leaned against the back of the couch.
"You're not allowed to die," she instructed both of them.
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 7:34 pm
"The goal is definitely usually to not die," Toby said with a nod. "I'm sure it does something to your character. Maybe it doesn't. I'm too lazy to read the instructions."
Dari smiled and shook his head. "I don't think it went into the cave anyway. I think it'll be somewhere open." And probably beautiful too, knowing video games as he did.
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Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:11 pm
"Lets search other places then," Maia said. "Do you think we'll have to fight it?" She didn't like to think of fighting such a beautiful creature. "Let s run away if we do."
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Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 5:54 pm
"I thought that was the plan," Toby said, unsure for a moment. Was he remembering wrong? He turned to the others with a brow arched.
Dari just nodded. "Yes."
The game began again, although this time they were nearer the supposed base and there was still no monster to speak of. At least it had saved their progress!
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Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:36 am
"Well, I thought maybe you'd forgotten," Maia said. They'd done so much since playing last time. Gone grocery shopping, made cupcakes, and they'd gone to work. "It'd be better if it were mermaids," she contemplated. She imagined mermaids wouldn't need the sort of buildings the base had. She thought they implied the users required air.
"I don't think it'd be close to here," She mused. "Where do you think, Dari?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 10:56 am
"There might be mermaids in here, we don't know yet," Toby offered. If there were, he'd bet they were rare and difficult to find, unless they were some kind of secondary helper-race who gave missions.
"Let's just go in the direction we saw it leaving in the first time. Backtrack a little and swing around. It was so big, maybe it's just out in the open, and if something high-level eats us we know we're not a high enough level or... skill or whatever yet."
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Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 11:22 am
They weren't able to find the sea monster, to the selkie's disappointment. They did find what seemed to be a hundred foot shark. Maia had fled at that point. "I'm going to bed!" she had announced, hurrying up the stairs.
The next weekend, Maia woke bright and early. Today was the day they headed to the lake! She quickly got dressed and went down stairs. She wondered if Toby was awake? It was a weekend after all... And he did seem to hate mornings. "Dari, are you ready?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 11:31 am
Today Toby was awake. He was slowly growing used to Maia's schedule and waking up before 9 wasn't the worst thing ever any more. His days felt longer, if only by a little bit. However that meant a lot of coffee and tea to keep him going.
"Hmm?" Dari, from down the side hall.
"He's painting up," Toby said, much nearer-by. He'd vacated the bathroom so Dari could get ready and was wandering around the living areas brushing his teeth. "I thought we'd pick something up from the bakery rather than wait around to make breakfast? Doughnut or bagel or breakfast sandwich, whatever you want. They're excellent."
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