Toby's smiled turned into a grin, watching Dakest interact with the fairies. It was weird, good weird, so see the professor in such a completely different environment than usual. DADA classes had a tendency to make Toby all... upset tense and stuff, just because of the subject matter, but down here was much more relaxing, so... yeah, seeing Dakest here was... yeah. Good. Or something.

"Probably because the augureys would try to eat them," he pointed out, hoping that the fairies were too distracted to have heard that, because it was never fun to hear that something wanted to eat you. "So it's best to keep them all in their areas. So it's super fair on everyone." They'd not fly away if they were let out. All these fairies had human friends that they'd not want to leave behind.

One of the fairies was back to tugging at Toby's hair. He gently guided her down to perch on his shoulder instead before looking back up and nodding. "Yeah. Everything's fine here, I think. Animals are happy and everything."

"Ah. Well we wouldn't want that." No. There'd been enough of trouble to go around without fairies becoming an afternoon snack. Extending his hand, Sabel watched as the fairie fluttered onto Toby's opposite shoulder. "Good to be fair."

At least it could be found in some part of the world.

Tucking his hands back in his pockets, Sabel glanced around at the stalls and enclosures. "Good. Well, why don't we walk a bit. Check in on everyone again. Hard to keep a weather eye out standing still."

After all, they were here to protect the animals, not play with fairies.

Toby nodded again, welcoming the fairy back with another little smile. It WAS good to be fair. It was, like, one of his main things in life to make sure that as many things as possible were good and fair and just and all that. Even if it meant keeping all the animals in enclosures when he wanted them to be free. Better kept safe than eaten, he reckoned.

He interacted with the fairies a moment longer, mostly letting them fly around and poke their heads into his pockets to check for food and all that, but at Dakest's suggestion he nodded once more. "Yeah, sure. Lemme just-..." Breaking off mid-sentence without even realising he'd done so, Toby worked on ushering all the fairies back into their little area. "I'll let you out later. Promise," he added to them, in a quiet whisper, before shutting the little door.

Then he turned back to Dakest, bounced on his toes for just a moment, and spoke again. "Okay. Yeah. Sure. Let's do that." He was ready. Yep yep.

There was really no rush in getting on walking, so Sabel let the kid have his time. To amuse himself, he wandered to a few of the nearby pens, peering through bars or doors to see what was inside.

"Do they not let you keep your pets in the common rooms anymore?" He hadn't thought to ask when he had returned to Hogwarts. Just assumed. But then, he hadn't seen nearly as many pets running about the hallways.

Turning, Sabel fell into step with the kid, keeping the pace slow and casual. No need to hurry. They had all...well he didn't know how long they had, nor did he know how short they had. It was nice, not being on a deadline.

"They do," Toby replied, nodding his head as they walked, his hand going to the zip on his jacket and zipping it up and down a few times for something to fidget with. "Like, cats and stuff. Pygmy Puffs too." Zipzipzipzipzip. "... I sent my cat home. After Starman's Pebbles and a few other pets went missing, y'know?"

It was a shame that his house back home wasn't enough to hold all these animals too. Not that he hadn't made a VERY GOOD CASE for sending them there. Professor Thompson hadn't been too keen on the idea.

"But sometimes if kids have, like, other pets. They can keep them here. Like Zander's crup." Toby paused by the right stable and peeked in to see if he could see her. Nope. The Gryffindor had probably taken her out for a walk or something. Or maybe Soph had her. "Need permission and everything, though. But Professor Botros has a crup, Feo. He lives in his office and I walk him a whole lot and he's super cute. One time when I was a first year he got loose and Botros was chasing after him and I caught him and Botros was super happy. Have you met him? Feo, I mean?"

Toby was... talking a lot. Creatures. They brought out his enthusiasm.

Sabel made a noise of acknowledgement in his throat. Both to the fact that they were still allowed pets, and the reason Toby didn't have one in his room anymore. Understandable. Very understandable.

Except that all mature understanding left him at the mention of Botros chasing a pup. Sure, it might have been a few years ago and the man was impressively mobile for his age, but the visual image of him chasing a pup down the hall was absolutely amusing. The laughter that bubbled up was covered by a choking cough into his arm. It was a moment before his airway was clear enough to be able to speak. "Can't say I have. Not yet."

For some reason, he just didn't see Botros with a crup. Maybe a owl, or even a lizard.

Forcing his thoughts onto present matters, Sabel spared the kid a sidelong glance. "So, you want to work with creatures when you graduate then?"

At that coughing... thing, Toby automatically glanced over at Dakest to see if he was okay and stuff. A thought crossed his mind that maybe he was allergic to some of the animals and maybe it made him cough. But... okay, like... he wasn't going to die, was he? The thought suddenly alarmed Toby (and the fact that his brain automatically went to the worst case scenario unnerved him further), BUT... no. Dakest was fine. Not dying. Whew.

"Oh, okay. Well, he's super cute. Feo is, I mean. You should meet him." Toby looked away again and back to the creatures once more, stepping across to the stables which housed the winged horses. The Abraxans here always made him feel so much shorter than he actually was, but he didn't mind. He stepped up on a beam that went across the bottom of the closed stable door, giving him about a foot of extra height, then looked back at Dakest and shrugged.

"I want to be a Quidditch player. Professionally, I mean," Toby said, leaning back a little while keeping a hold of the stable door. Really, he was all set to go pro, but Toby didn't want to sound too sure of things until it was 100% definite. It made him nervous. "I'd love to work with creatures too, but... a lot of people are always on about going to university next, and I don't wanna do that yet, y'know?" He looked back at the horses. Possibly maybe hopefully he could find something to do with magical creatures that didn't require all that university, or maybe eventually he'd give WU a go, but 'til then... Quidditch.

"I'm sure I'll get the chance, eventually." Sabel moved up beside the boy, hooking his arms over the stall door and considering the horses beyond.

His brow twitched a little at the mention of Quidditch, though his expression remained rather unreadable. "Never liked flying myself. Scared the daylights out of me, and I was never any good at it." Surprise, surprise. Not being good at something one was afraid of. What a concept.

"It's a decent career goal." Besides the fact injury was likely imminent. But it was better than the kid proclaiming he wanted to be an Auror. That would have made Sabel choke. |"Which position?"

But it was interesting, that the kid was here, and not out and about practicing Quidditch in one form or another, even if the pitch was closed. "And if you're not interested in university, you might be able to find an internship on the side."

Toby nodded in understanding. Not because he understood the whole 'not liking flying' thing, but more because he knew that some things weren't for everyone. It had taken him a long time to properly grasp the concept of another person not liking something that he, personally, found so much joy in, but he did understand such things these days. "I just love it. It's the only thing I could do straight away, without having to focus too much on being taught it by someone else. And I think it's super fun. And I love fun." Who didn't love fun, after all? That thought was inconceivable to Toby. "But I know it's not fun for everyone."

He leaned back once more, drumming the stable door with his thumbs but keeping his fingers hooked on, and then forward again. "Keeper. That's what I played for the Hufflepuff team, then for the Under Seventeens. I'm good as a Chaser too, and I've tried Seeker a few times and I was okay at it, but I like Keeping best. I'm a lot smaller than Keepers usually are and I can't really keep still, but when I was a first year my Ella said that 'cause I'm so fidgety and bouncy that I might be able to zoom and bounce between the hoops and defend them that way and she was right." Toby nodded once for emphasis, and smiled at the memory. He was absolutely positively 100% aware that he'd started rambling again, but didn't seem to mind. Quidditch and flying made him happier than almost anything; he'd talk about them all day if left unchecked.

The idea of a internship was pretty cool (he wondered if the Snidget sanctuary would let him intern there properly once he graduated), though something about thinking of proper adulting put Toby on edge, juuuust a little bit. He chewed on his lip for a moment before replying. "Yeah-huh. As long as I get to have fun and be happy, I don't mind what I do." Aaaaand seeing as Quidditch AND working with creatures would come under that category, that was a pretty decent plan. "I've not really thought that much about the future anyway. I usually just wait and see what happens." Toby watched as one of the abraxans looked over and huffed in their direction, and he smiled back at it. Hello, friend.

The silence that followed after Toby had spoken wasn't due to any lack of interest or attention. In fact, it was just the opposite. Sabel's brow was furrowed in deep thought as he watched the boy from the corner of his eyes.

On the one hand, he found it a bit of a pity that a kid with such potential would choose a sport of all things. On the other hand, his explanation only illuminated what Sabel had started to suspect. It was a hard truth to swallow, but if there was any kid he would have recommended, it would have been this one. Sans a few 'world opinion' justifications and realignments.

Letting out a breath, and swallowing that thought, Sabel returned his attention to the horses upon hearing one of them snort. The placement would hardly make the boy happy, and he had just said that was what he wanted. To be happy. Didn't they all?

I'm sure fidgiting helps in the position of a Keeper. But I think its a bit more than that. Possibly the same reason we are standing here now." A quirk of the eyebrow, and then a sudden change of topic. "How did you light the dummy on fire during class?"

The same reason they were... wait, hold on, what? Toby blinked and looked properly at Dakest, wondering if the professor knew he was talking in riddles. He puzzled over how any sort of Quidditch skills might possibly lead to the two of them stood in the middle of the creature housing. Toby had actually started to realise what it was that Dakest had meant, but the next question drove those thoughts from his mind entirely.

He'd had his eyes on Dakest while he'd been thinking, but now quickly looked away again. "I dunno what you're talking about," he said automatically, and then instantly cursed his runaway mouth. It was almost a natural reflex for Toby to deny knowledge or memory of anything negative, even to himself, and as that one lesson had been a complete and utter disaster (including the dummy incident), he'd attempted to drive it from his memory. But in recent years, usually at home, when he'd made a steadfast claim of ignorance, he was usually reprimanded (though gently) for not being truthful. He quickly backpedaled now, not wanting Dakest to think him a liar. "I mean..."

Toby chewed at his bottom lip for a moment, stepped down from the stable door so he was back to his regular height again, then (perhaps predictably) started chewing at his fingernails instead. After a few moments thought, he spoke again. "It was an accident. It just sort of happens, sometimes. When I get really-" Toby paused, just catching himself before saying 'angry, or really sad'. But saying it would be admitting that he felt those t hings, and that was a very un-Toby-like admission to make, so he went with a broader definition. "-... overwhelmed. Things just... yeah, I dunno."

Fire. It was always fire. Which was... slightly worrying, for reasons.

Didn't know what he was......

One of Sabel's eyebrows went up as he watched the kid, noting the string of thoughts that ghosted over his face. It was the only thing that kept him from saying something straight-away to correct the boy. It seemed, the kid was perfectly capable of doing that himself.

An accident. That was one way to put it.

Letting out a breath, Sabel hooked his forearms over the door and clasped his hands together. "Seems to be a bit of a thing with wandless magic. Requires a great bit of emotion and power to muster. Most wizards can't do it. Not even a lick of flame."

Impressive, and slightly terrifying at the same time.

A small, half-amused smile touched the corners of his lips. Sometimes. Which meant more than once. Which meant.... "What else have you lit on fire?"

Toby kept his eyes on the abraxans, frowning ever so slightly though only because that was his default 'concentrating super hard on something' face. He mulled over Dakest's words, drumming his fingers incessantly on the stable door while a barrage of thoughts flew through his mind at about a mile a minute.

"But I'm not very powerful," he said at last. Toby didn't mention the emotion part, because he knew he had a LOT of that. Mostly kept behind a very carefully constructed wall, all the negative ones at any rate. But occasionally something would happen or someone could do or say something and the wall might crack and if it did then suddenly the whole fragile thing would come crashing down. "Even if I was... is it still power if you can't control it?"

Toby glanced up at Dakest for a second, suddenly realising what he must have said to evoke that question. He bit his lip once more and looked away again, hands automatically going back to fiddling with the zip on his jacket. "Uhh..." He cleared his throat, shook his head. "... Nothing. Nothing, really. Like... uh... it doesn't matter." Or, more accurately, Toby didn't want to admit out loud (again) that he'd lost control enough to do a similar thing before, given that it would always accompany some form of distress or episode (or both).

A thought occurred to him, and he suddenly looked as though he was about to ask a question of his own. But, just as suddenly, Toby seemed to think better of the idea and closed his mouth again, straightening his features and pretending like nothing had happened. He went back to drumming his fingers on the stable door.

A chuckle escaped Sabel and he shook his head. "Your ability to do wandless magic, controlled or not, says otherwise."

Untapped potential. Potential threat and danger. Those were the two words that Toby was looking for, the uncontrolled power. What it was actually called. On the one hand, it might be a good idea to say as much, on the other hand, he couldn't see it going over very well. Would likely be that the boy would get into a worse state next time he lit something on fire, with such words jumbling about in his head.

So, instead, Sabel shrugged. "Power is power. Controlled or not. Bidden or not. Tends to work more in your favor if it's controlled though." That, seemed a safe way to put it. Hopefully.

A side-glance was given to the boy as he tip-toed around the truth again. This time he was going to press, purely out of curiosity, but the look that flashed over the kid's expression halted him. One eyebrow quirked and he found himself asking a different question. "What?"

Powerful. Nobody had ever called him that before. Toby looked down at his hands and wiggled his fingers. He'd only really felt powerful a few times in his life, and he wasn't really sure those times counted, given the context. He thought about mentioning all that to Dakest, but... maybe in a place where they weren't likely to be overheard by a bazillion creatures (they heard and understood everything, Toby knew that) or any students. In any case, there had been plenty of times he had felt the exact opposite of powerful - again, something he wanted to mention but thought better of doing so at this exact moment - so Toby had his doubts. Maybe it was just... a series of bizarre, fiery coincidences.

"But I can't control it," he pointed out, not liking that it was a sort of negative thing to say but unable to really avoid the truth in the matter. "If that's what it actually is, I mean." Maybe if you had extra emotion, that sort of counted as power. That sounded feasible to him, going by experience, though Toby did trust Professor Dakest and actually saw no real reason to disbelieve him. It was just... surprising news. He wiggled his fingers again, then dropped his hands and looked back up.

Toby noticed the eyebrow thing. In fact, it was all he could do not to automatically attempt to mirror the expression, but he managed to control the impulse, just about, and shook his head instead. "Nothing. I didn't say anything." Which was technically true. Toby still offered Dakest a typical friendly smile before casually sidling away, starting off towards the stables which housed the Hippogriffs so he could look in on them too.

It was strange, to be able to see the wheels of thought turning so brightly behind the young boy's eyes, but to be given such a simple response. Either the kid truly couldn't connect the dots, or he didn't want anyone knowing what connections he was making. Either way was unsettling in it's own regard.

"Do you think the present is infinite, Fuller-Thompson? That you will always be the way you are?" A serious question there. One the boy needed to answer for himself sooner, rather than later. "You may not be able to control it now, just like you may not be able to cast a patronus now." Sensitive subject? Maybe. But Sabel had little reservations about breaching such topics anymore. "With time, dedication, practice and commitment though...well, you can achieve what you want."

Not anything. Because that was a lie. And lies did children no favors. But if Toby wanted something, Sabel had no doubt the kid couldn't obtain it. He just had to want it more than he feared it. And that meant he had to want to not fear. Perhaps a tricker skill to master than a patronus.

He watched the boy start away for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, tucking his hands in his pockets and following after him. "Don't have to use words to say anything." It was a comment made more for himself, but loud enough for the kid to hear.

"I hope not."

Not for the first time that day, Toby's mouth had gone ahead and spoken without any prior permission from his brain. He honestly could have kicked himself, and even though it wasn't even that bad (he'd said worse things in the past without thinking), it was just such a negative and self-deprecating thing to say out loud that Toby was kind of nervous about how easily it had slipped out. But there was a chance that Dakest would interpret it as purely magic related, as that was what they were actually talking about.

"I mean... I guess not, no. Maybe? I don't know." By this point Toby had reached the Hippogriff stable, and he stepped up onto the door as he had earlier at the abraxans. "I don't think so."

He made a face at the mention of patronuses. Sensitive subject, yes. "Some people can't produce a patronus. No matter how much they want it," Toby pointed out, with just a touch of frustration in his voice. He immediately regretted his tone, though, however slight it had been, and bit down hard on his lip. "... Sorry." It didn't escape his notice that, as someone who'd still not attempted a patronus and therefore didn't know if he was one of those people, he had no right to get upset. He wanted to be able to produce one, though, wanted it so bad. He was just... afraid. For reasons.

Toby stayed quiet for a long moment, keeping his eyes on the Hippogriffs, before all at once his expression changed to a hopeful one and he seemed to suddenly brighten again. The change of mood was almost whiplash-inducing. "Could you help me? With the wandless magic stuff, I mean." Not with a patronus. At least... not yet. "Maybe? 'Cause I dunno how I'm gonna learn to control it. I've never been very good at the whole self-control thing on my own." At least, not in the conventional ways. In some ways, he was far too good at it for his own good.

Toby looked across at Dakest now, and the man's last comment finally registered. He considered it for a moment, really properly thought about it perhaps more than he was actually meant to, but eventually looked back at the Hippogriffs without saying anything in return.

What surprised Sabel was the lack of decisiveness with which Toby answered what he had considered a rather rhetorical question. How could the boy not know? Either one wanted to stay how they were, expected to, or they didn't. Simple enough as that.

So while Toby was making a face at the mention of patronuses, Sabel was making his own face for the confusing mind of Mr. Fuller-Thompson. Which, included an arched eyebrow at the rather defensive retaliation. "True. But most people who claim to be unable to do so have given it a go. And I'm sure if you talked to most people who can do wandless magic, they would be the minority of successfuls."

Just saying Mr. Fuller-Thompson. Just saying.

The mouse-like sorry got a dismissive wave of his hand. Not in dismissing the apology, but the need for one. Patronuses, he had learned, were of a rather sensitive nature with this group of kids. Something he had accepted, albeit without a great deal of understanding.

He rested his shoulder against the stable wall, idly watching the abraxans, and finding himself thinking of his wife. She had always loved the horses, always been around them. The thought had him smiling in private distraction, so when Toby's request came, it came as a blatant shock.

He blinked. Once, twice at the boy before surprise exchanged itself for a small smile. "I'm flattered you think I even know the first thing about using wandless magic." He shrugged his shoulders. "I know about it, but I don't know how to wield it."

A minor point of frustration, especially since his own mentor boasted a variety of talents with the subject. For a brief moment, Sabel thought of giving Toby a referral. That thought was instantly burned. Damien would eat the kid alive.

"I can, however, do my best to help you with control, with practicing magic, with discipline in that regard." With all the things a DADA professor could mentor in. Another shrug of his shoulders. "Things may fall into place once you have those foundations set up."

Something about the topic of patronuses always seemed to make Toby quite defensive. But that hadn't always been so. When he was twelve and found out what they were, he couldn't wait to learn one, but by the time he was sixteen and Soph suggested they get Piers to teach it to them... he'd been reluctant. Hugely reluctant. It had only been Soph's comment that he didn't have to join them that had instantly awoken Toby's fear of being left out, rejected, abandoned... whatever, and that was the only reason he'd agreed to go along with it. In the end, of course, it never happened. Soph had learnt to conjure a patronus on her own, from Cutty or someone, and Toby had actually been grateful. But it had been a sensitive topic since perhaps before the first time she'd suggested they learn the skill, and that had only got worse over the past couple of years.

Toby considered all this now, and the retort he'd initially been about to make thankfully died before it reached his lips. He'd still not told Dakest why he was reluctant to even try casting one, and Toby knew that the more he spoke the more likely he'd blurt something like that out. And it was something he preferred to say in a more controlled manner and environment, so he simply kept his mouth shut and didn't say anything, very obviously avoiding the subject.

... Ah. There it was. The reason he'd initially been reluctant to ask if Dakest himself could do wandless magic. Toby had been worried he might reveal what he'd only just gone and revealed: that he couldn't. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to Toby, who had already formed an idea of Professor Dakest that was more or less set in stone, and he sort of visibly deflated, wearing a strange and unreadable expression.

Aside from anything, Toby was instantly unnerved by the idea that he could do something that Dakest could not.

"I think... maybe I can't actually use it either," he said now. Yes, he could get behind that idea. "Maybe it's something else. It's probably something else. Yeah." Toby nodded as he spoke, already halfway towards having totally convinced himself.

He glanced up at Dakest again, just for a second, then his eyes strayed back to the creatures in the stable. "You don't have to, of course. If you don't want to, I mean. I'd like that, but... like, it's okay." Toby wasn't going to lie and say he didn't want it, but he'd suddenly been hit with a ton of feelings that always came with asking someone for help. Guilt. Selfishness. All that fun stuff he'd never been able to shake, no matter how much reassurance he got. "Like... I mean... it's probably something else, anyway, y'know? It's cool." Toby smiled up at the professor, and gave a shrug of his own.

There were several things that one should not do as a Professor, around or in the presence of students. Laughing at a student, was one of those things.

Problem was, he couldn't help it. Toby's expression, the words that came from him and kept coming from him. It had him laughing, leaning against the stable wall, and laughing. Not necessarily at the boy, but at the way he was being utterly ridiculous. The lack of logic. It wasn't the same thing, was it?

"I said I couldn't do it, Toby. Not I didn't know what it was, or can't recognize it." Shaking his head, he pushed away from the wall. "But if you want to think that way, then by that logic, since you can't do a patronus, then neither can I."

Still chuckling, Sabel gave the kid a solid clap on the back, starting down towards the doors. It was as clear of a gesture to follow him as anything else. "Don't deny yourself potential because someone else doesn't have it. Otherwise, you may as well be invisible."

Stopping at the doors to the creature housing, Sabel's laughter subsided. He tucked his hands in his pockets, considering with more maturity seriousness, Toby's words. He spared a long look at the kid. "I know I don't have to, but I wouldn't offer, if I didn't want to help. But more importantly than that, the question is do you want my help."

The kid had said he did at the beginning, but now, once again, he was flip-flopping. Sabel wanted a flat, firm answer. Perhaps it was too much to ask, but this was as much 'training' as any wand work or incantations as they would do. If Toby wanted to survive, he had to start being confident and sure of the words that came out of his mouth.

Toby wasn't quite sure what kind of reaction he had been expecting, but when Dakest started laughing, he knew that this wasn't it.

He looked at the professor, blinking, utterly confused, trying to work out what was so funny. Dakest's words didn't really shed much light on the matter, though at the comment about the patronus, Toby couldn't help but feel like maybe he was being mocked. Which hurt, if it were true. IF it were true. If.

It was a conflicting set of feelings. Because the fact of the matter was that even though the automatic response to being laughed at was to feel hurt, Toby's brain had a way of trying to block that sort of thing out and find a positive spin, where possible. It was a skill that got more difficult as he grew older, but was still very much there. This time, Toby zeroed in on the fact that laughing meant happiness and if he'd made someone laugh, even by accident or if they were laughing at him, that was a good thing, because he'd made them happy. Whatever it was that was funny, Toby didn't believe (or didn't want to believe; for him they were the same thing) that Dakest would ever really be mean, so that, at least, was okay.

Toby was just considering laughing along too, when the clap on the back got his attention, and the statement about 'potential' caught him off guard once more. Toby watched as Dakest walked away, then quickly hurried to catch up with him. He thought about saying 'It's my potential and I'll deny if I want to,' but very quickly pushed that random thought away. This was srs bizniz. "Denying my potential never hurt me before," was what Toby said instead, but then faltered. "... I don't think so, anyway." Or had it? Merlin only knew.

When Professor Dakest stopped, Toby did too, and automatically he started to bite at his fingernails again, hardly realising he was doing it.

"I..." he said, then paused, stalling for a moment longer as he looked out over the grounds, the glanced in the direction of Javy's office. Sometimes it was hard to say what he wanted, and he'd learnt not to really do that, with the odd exception. Still, it had been a direct question, hadn't it? Toby refocused his attention back on Dakest. "I... well, yeah, I do. Yeah, I mean..." It took a lot of mental energy to keep from trying to go back in the other direction again. This was the truth, sooooo... "Yeah."

It was a relief the boy hadn't looked hurt about the laughing, otherwise Sabel's guilty conscience might have kicked in. Might have. Might have realized how much like Damien he was becoming. And then there would have been two unhappy blokes in the barn.

The thought was creeping in, but it was given little time or attention as Toby's words had him thinking down a completely different path. Perhaps it hadn't hurt him. Perhaps it had protected him. And now what? He was offering to undo that protection, in the effort to strengthen it?

Sometimes, oftentimes, he was convinced Auror's shouldn't be in the position to teach students, let alone children.

But Toby wanted his help. His answer had been a 'yes'. Sabel considered that for a moment before nodding slightly. Toby would be graduating soon, no longer a student, no longer a child. Perhaps it was time to start treating him as such.

Turning, he held out his hand to seal the deal in a shake. "Then you have it."

Toby was still totally confused, no doubt about it. He was trying his best not to think about what might have caused that laughter, as he already had the positive thing to focus on, but not knowing was threatening to drive him crazy. He thought about asking, but very quickly decided against it.

Instead he stood there, looking almost pensively at Dakest. He was so lost in thought about that and about other things that at first he didn't notice the proffered hand. Toby eyed it for moment or two, trying to shove aside those feelings of selfishness and of guilt and of greed and everything else, and then eventually took the hand and shook it.

"Okay. Cool. Good," he said, nodding. "Thanks, I mean. Yeah."

There was a paused, and then another uncertain question. Request for affirmation.

"...................... You're sure, though?"

Ah good they were getting somewhere. The handshake, the agreement. Things were....

Sabel's hand stopped shaking, holding onto Toby's as he fixed the boy with the most quizzical expression. "Do you want me to say no?"

Once again, Toby's default reaction was to go straight to defensive.

"No," he said, with feeling, and fighting the urge to fidget around where he stood. "I was just checking... in case you didn't... want to." Awk. They'd just been over that, after all. Toby decided not to look right at him this time. "Sorry." He thought about explaining why he kept asking but... no. No, no. Shutting up altogether was probably the wisest course of action.