Robyn Granger! ]

Afternoon, March 14th..

She was right on time but she made it by running the last mile. As she ran at least five miles every morning it wasn't so big a deal but she wasn't exactly dressed for the exercise so when she grasped hold of the door and used it to brake she kind of splatted up against it; it was full of Robyn grace.

Stepping back and tugging the door open, the tiny bells tattle-telling her entrance she rushed inside and began to unzip the bulky jacket she had on and called over to the boy behind the counter. "Apple cider stat, Jimmy!"

He comes from the other direction, skidding around the corner of the tea shop into a pile of dirt and slush that had been pushed off the main road. Lurching forward to keep his feet beneath him, he falls on the door handles and practically tumbles inside, panting with exertion. "I made it!"

Twisting around, still struggling to get the jacket off she smiles at Toby. "I've been waiting here forEVER for you." Jimmy was bringing her apple cider around and was moving toward the area he knew she'd be going for, the couch by the hearth and she followed. "I got some apple cider, you want some too?"

"Really?" He looks rueful. "Sorry. I got caught up at work--and that's not an excuse, I really did. Marlena's starting to give these 'Delivery staff meetings.'" He performs air quotes, grinning as he follows her. "Cider would be great. Thanks." He shucks his coat and bag, then abruptly moves in for a hug. "We haven't hung out just us in a long time!"

She had just been waiting to ditch her coat before gathering a hug so it worked out and she returned the hug warmly. "I know! I'm so sorry about that too, the schedule for Wicked has just been so... wicked." Grin. "Have a seat and tell me what's been going on. Jimmy another cider please." Flashing him a smile.

He squeezes tightly, always one to grab hugs whenever he could. At least from friends he knew wouldn't punch him or something. He snickers. "So you got caught up at work too. I'm only seventeen, I shouldn't be this busy. Though my birthday's in a month." He grins broadly at Jimmy and flounces into a seat. "Honestly, I don't know where to start."

There'd been a reason why he had called Robyn to talk to instead of his any other contact he had but now that she was here and sitting right next to him, he was having trouble remembering what that reason was.

She hugged him as long as he wanted and then dropped into the couch, it was cushy and familiar. "Start with what you've been doing outside of work, oh! and do you want a party or something for your birthday?"

"I've--Well, I hung out with Mayu and another girl Summer at a Stars End arcade." He scratches at his cheek. "Other than that--There's just been a whole lot of fantastic stuff going on. Like, I was sick here recently." He scowls thoughtfully. Then, "Oh, god, a party?" He waves his hands. "I don't know. I'm not even thinking that far ahead!"

"Would you seriously throw me one?"

"Of course! You'd have to give me a list of who you'd want invited, I only know three people that you know. Summer... Daniels? I keep wanting to get a family fued going with the Daniels! I know her cousin Colt." There might have been a hint of a blush when she mentioned his name, she, at one point, had a crush on him and still thought the world of him. "A friendly fued! I think it'd be fun." Rewinding through the words he spoke. "Sick? You're better now though right?" Jimmy came over with the cider at that moment and shied away from Toby, leaving it as far from him as possible.

"Well crap, I don't know. I don't really do parties that well. I mean--other people's parties, sure, but one for me? Just me, celebrating me?" He shudders. "I'm better with presents," he says, grinning. Then he nods. "Summer Daniels, right. She had an accident recently and was in the hospital. Her whole family was worried, Colt--that's his name--Colt didn't seem to want to tell me anything when I asked. ...Hey thanks." He grins at Jimmy, but gives the distance between him and his cider a weird look. "I'm better. It wasn't all that bad. Just a fever."

"It's good you're better and it must have been that he was worried about his cousin, Colt is one of those real good guys. He reminds me a lot of my own family, we all care for one another -- if sometimes in strange and different ways. If you want I can just throw a game night or something for you and a few of your friends.. it's a big birthday you should celebrate it!" She laughed and leaned forward to collect her cider and take a sip.

"Yeah. I don't get sick often, but when I do it hits kind of hard." He snickers, still remembering the gnawing feeling of his entire body and how every movement took all the energy he'd saved up for the last two hours. He nods to her assessment of Colt. "I suppose. It kind of irritated me at the time though, you know? I mean--I don't look like a jackass, do I? I don't look like someone who'd hurt Summer or, well, anyone."

Her continued zeal about his birthday creates a smile that he can't hide, the red in his ears beginning to find its way to his face. "Eighteen's really that big a deal?"

"I don't think you do but he's real serious about protecting his cousins. If something happened to her... he would have seen it as a personal failure." She made a mental note to drop him a line. "And yeah it's a big deal, for most human cultures it's when you're considered a real adult! Exciting, right!?" She beamed a smile at him then her eyes narrowed just a touch. "You sure you're feeling better, Toby? Something seems...off."

"Yeah--" He supposes he shouldn't have given the Daniels such a hard time. If something happened to his family, he wouldn't want to talk to strangers either. Robyn receives another broad grin. "Birthdays were a big deal in my hometown, but here, it kind of seems like the kids are pretty grown up even before they reach eighteen. That's a creepy thought. I'd be an adult."

He had been mid lean for his cider when she asked her last question and he paused, looking over at her, blinking. She was one of those intuitive girls too, wasn't she? "Off?"

There were still things she hadn't mentioned to Toby, like she had been trained to be an FBI agent, she had scars that were the reason she wasn't one now but the training was still there. "Yeah, like you have something you want to say, or... something is bothering you... you look uncomfortable in your skin and that isn't like you." She pitched her voice to be softer, there were few other patrons in the place but she wanted to give Toby the impression of privacy so that he might open up.

He finishes his reach for his cider and sips it, holding the cup close with both hands. He can barely see his own shifting reflection in the shifting amber liquid. When he looks up, he's smiling. It's one of those 'You caught me.' smiles, followed by an exhale. "All three of those, actually. It's--why I wanted to talk to you. I don't have a shortage of people I can go to, you know? I just, didn't think I should talk about it with anyone else."

Man, that took him a while to get out. He scratches at his cheek again, taking another long gulp of cider before he set the cup on the floor at his feet. Hopefully he wouldn't kick it over.

"I'm really good at keeping things private, Toby. You can trust me." She was too good at keeping secrets sometimes. Reaching out to rest a hand on his knee. "Promise."

He looks down at the hand on his leg. He knew he could trust her. He usually trusted everyone right off the bat until they proved him wrong. He nervously ran one hand through his hair, making the ginger spikes stand on end. "Then--I have a weird question to ask you." He licks his lips, frowns, then turns to her, his eyes staying low. "When--Before you and Shong'e were together. And when you liked him. Did he ever date anyone else? Or fall in love with them?"

That was a long moment before she answered, it was hard because there were things about Shon'ge that were different from other men and that affected the way he went about his relationships. "For his people they believe in lifelong commitments in a way that is intricately entwined with their soul and fate. He didn't date... he was waiting." There was a blush racing across her cheeks, to say what had been said to her by Shon'ge sounded egotistical to repeat. "Is Mayu dating someone?"

He smiles, slowly and languidly. "That's a relief," he says, in the same quiet tone that she used. "You know, I've broken bones before and I've fallen on my head, and I've even been stabbed with someone's fist and none of that feels any bit close to what *this* feels like." He squints at her. "That's not girly, is it? Am I just being a girl?"

He hopes that answers her question.

"You say that like being a girl is a bad thing, Toby. That's just stupid. Being a girl is a thousand times harder than being a guy." Said with utter sincerity. "Just means that you really like her, and that's scary. Hell Toby, I was in love with Shon'ge for years before anything ever came of it. I don't recommend waiting that long though. Tell her how you feel."

He snickers. "It *is* a bad thing! When you're a guy for real, it's a bad thing. 'Cause you sit around, oozing and gushing and talking about feelings. Basically what I'm doing right now, but--I needed to, you know?" He rubs his hands all over his head. "I can't talk to Emerill about this, he doesn't talk. I don't ever want to tell my sister, I know she'd flip out and try to hook us up or something. Talking to my co-workers about girls is like opening me up for being teased. Hell, they made fun of Patrick when he first showed up chasing after Sera. They didn't think it'd work out and now they're married and have two kids.

"You're the only one of my friends who knows this, Robyn. Who--just *knows*." He smiles at her advice and instead of looking at her, he looks over at his bag and begins to dig through it. "I was going to."

"You have a plan? I have to say I was ... impressed by the way Shon'ge decided to finally fill me in on things." The fact that she was utterly and hopelessly in love with Shon'ge was blatantly apparent any time she mentioned him. "But I think with Mayu you need to do something straight forward and honest, like ripping a band-aid off, you just need to do it."

"Had a plan," he corrects. He pulls, from his bag, a white box. Two ivory ribbons criss crossed the box, tied into an elaborate ribbon on top. "White Day. March fourteenth in Japan--it's the sister holiday to Valentines Day. It's the day when guys give the girls who gave *them* chocolate--chocolate. It's like--how they return feelings. I didn't have a great plan, but..I had one."

"That's today, you have the gift, just execute it, Toby. It sounds like a good plan." She took a sip of her cider and peered at him over the rim.

"How am I supposed to, Robyn? Seriously? She's living in my house, with her girlfriend. In my *house*!" He turns over the box he held in his hand. "And--she likes this girl. And this girl likes her. Who the hell am I to mess that up? I've had so much time to just tell her. Half of that time was spent trying to make myself *not* because--Well, just because." He tosses the box onto his bag and leans forward, his head in his hands.

"It's not like I haven't thought about it. Just going to her and telling her. Or just giving her that box because she'll know what it means. But what the hell happens after that?"

She paused and thought about that, then sighed. "That's a hard situation Toby. I'm sorry. I wish I had some great advice to give you but... I don't. I'm terrible at relationships, I could never seem to get them right until Shon'ge." She wasn't the type to judge a person based on sexual preference, the gods knew her family pushed those limits to the breaking point, but she hadn't thought of Mayu with anyone but Toby, it seemed obvious to her when they were together.

He frowns, but finally drags his hands down his face and takes a deep inhale of the pastry scented air. Most traces of that frown are erased when he smiles at her. "It's okay. I don't think anybody can give me any advice for this. Other than tell her or try to move on. She's happy with this girl, her name is Eri. And Eri's great. She's not a bad person, she takes care of her. ...That might be one of the things that sucks the most, you know? You want them to be happy, you just--don't want them to be happy with anyone but you."

Abruptly, he shoots to his feet. "Oh my god, that makes me sound like the biggest jerk in the world. She's got something, she finally has something! Something good and I should just be happy that she's not being used and thrown out like a freakign paper towel, but--I'm not."
"Do you know how hard it is to be around them?"

"Yes, that I do know. I... had a bit of a crush on Colt." The admission wasn't an easy one for her. "I didn't know he was dating Ten when I met him...and... he was so nice to me." A slight pause. "When I found out he was dating Ten I wanted so much just to be happy for him, and I was... I mean... I mostly was, but there was a part of me that was so sad it hurt to be near him. It must be worse for you because it isn't a crush." She couldn't imagine what she would have done if Shon'ge had been dating someone, that would have hurt a far cry more than seeing Colt with someone.

He turns to face her, surprised. From how she always spoke about Shong'e, hearing her liking someone else seemed impossible. Like she was just telling him that to make him feel better. But she wasn't that kind of girl. His eyebrows inch toward each other. When he looks away, he exhales. "No, you're right. It's not just a crush.

"I really wish it was. I wish that the me of now could go back to the me of then and, like, smack him in the face." Just like he wished the him of now could visit his past self and strangle him. It was all a very healthy train of thought.

"Hah, life would run smoother if we could do that right? Like if you don't let me do something for your birthday, a future you could walk in here any second and smack you. So we should plan to do something." Grins.

He wonders what his past self did, his other self, the self that everyone told him that he was. How did he handle his feelings? Especially if they were one of the main reasons why he died. He smiles at Robyn, surrendering, and drops back on the couch beside her. "Fiiine, I'll let you do something. Not like I have a choice. My family's invited for sure, Mayu and Eri. I don't think I know of anyone else.

"It's in a month. I'll probably forget by the time it actually happens anyway so I can't get mad at you," snickering.

She smiled. "Ok, so you, your family, Mayu, Eri, and would you mind if I invited Shon'ge?" It was for him so she wanted him to feel completely comfortable.

"Mind? Pfft, you'd better drag him along. I want to see him have fun. He always just sits there like this." He stiffens, his back straightening, and does his best Shong'e face and posture.

She laughed brightly. "He's very quiet around people he doesn't know well. It's his nature. He's not like that when its just me, or me and Shane."

"Well, that just means that he has to get to know us," nodding. "Will you make him wear a paper crown? That'd be *awesome*."

"I'm not sure that will happen, but I can try." A laugh escaping her just thinking about that.

"Oh, come on. If you say it's for you, he'll do it. I know he will. Then I can get a picture of it and tease him forever." Snickering, he reaches down to his now cold cider and finishes it off in a single gulp. He wasn't sure he felt better, but he felt lighter. And lighter was always a good thing.

"Oh, no, no pictures." That was serious. "His people are among those that believe that pictures steal a piece of their soul. Not a good way to get him to warm up to you!"

His face falls. "Whaaat?! Aww, come on. Not even, like--like a little one? No flash, no shutter sound? But it's my birthday!!" He sticks out his lower lip.

"No." Gives him a pointed stare. "I want the two of you to get along, so please, no pictures." She was playing the pouty face now.

"BUT IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!" That's all he has.

"And you can cry if you want to but no pictures." Smirks.

"Aaaawww." He slouches into the couch, arms folding over his chest. "I'm not speaking to you."