Lesson 36- Put your things away, or the Toy Goblin might steal them!

I finally have a few things to occupy myself. I can paint my nails for example, and I can sit and draw. Sure, these things won’t keep me occupied forever, and I doubt they’ll do anything about my restlessness. But at least it’s something to do other than stare at Torin all night. Not that staring at him is a particularly unpleasant way to spend my time, the guy is hot. Would it be weird if I sat and tried to draw him? Probably. Damn. I could try to draw the dust sprites though, although it would help if I got another look at them. Could I sketch Jane? Maybe… I could draw part of her at least. I’m just laying out my new drawing supplies, feeling a little bit inspired to try to draw some of the creatures and people that I’ve seen when there’s a quiet knock on my door.
“Yeah?” I call out. Torin opens the door then steps out of sight. Huh? He returns a moment later carrying a large wooden dresser. The old kind that weigh a ton and last practically forever. It would have probably taken three of me to carry that thing but he’s doing it easily. I’m a little jealous. He places it against the wall and straightens it up, then nods as if satisfied. Clearly he doesn’t want a repeat of his earlier embarrassment. Where did he even get that thing so fast? It’s been like half an hour! It took him longer than that just to get me flypaper. I guess motivation really does make a difference.
“Where on earth did you get that?” I ask incredulously. Torin shrugs.
“I ran home to grab it. I had a spare.” He says awkwardly. A spare? Who just keeps a spare dresser around? Torin I suppose. Either way, I’m excited to have somewhere to keep my clothes. I start moving them from the shelf into the dresser.
“So, do you always get here so early? I know that you like to be here whenever other people are, but Laura and Kyle aren’t here yet, although I expect that they will be soon…” I add with a glance at my new watch. Torin shrugs.
“Sometimes.” He says noncommittally. Yeah, I’m fairly sure that translates to, no not really. Does that mean he’s actually just coming in early to hang out with me? That’s kind of sweet. I’m becoming increasingly convinced that Torin must be the most misunderstood guy in existence, because everyone is terrified of him, and as far as I can tell he’s an absolute cinnamon roll. I can’t see a single reason other than his appearance, for people to be so scared of him. I mean, I do have a vague memory of him as a demon, but I get the impression that not many people have seen that side of him. Besides, is a demon really all that scary compared to a regular guy? Either one of them could overpower me physically with no issue. Eventually it reaches the point where someone is strong enough to be a threat, and making them stronger than that doesn’t make them more threatening. It’s like…. If I were to shoot someone in the head, they would be dead. Sure, blowing them up would be more destructive and take more fire power, but the end result would still be that the person is dead. They can’t be MORE dead. Why is THAT the example that I picked? I shudder a little.

I spent the rest of the night reorganising my room and drawing except for a quick break where I went and had dinner with Torin. He retreated back to his office fairly quickly when he realised that I was going to have to take my underwear out again to put it away. Seriously, I’ve never seen a guy so frightened of women’s undergarments before. The poor awkward man. I must have fallen asleep at some point during the night though because when I wake up I have a pencil tangled in my hair, my sketch book has been knocked onto the floor and the pages are probably getting all crumpled. I yawn and check the time on my new alarm clock. It’s a little before four. People will probably be arriving soon. Laura isn’t working tonight, I’m finally going to meet the one staff member that I haven’t seen yet. Catcher. Apparently he only works part time. Laura told me that he is a major family man, so he spends his other nights off with his wife and kids. Apparently his wife is the main breadwinner for the family, he just helps out a little. From what she’s said about him, I’m keen to meet him. He seems like he will be nice.

I decide that I might as well get up. My alarm is due to go off fairly soon anyway, and waking up early gives me time to tidy up and make myself presentable. It would be nice to make a good first impression. Although I suppose it can’t be worse than the first impression Torin, Laura and Kyle got of me. I was a total mess. Sure, I was running for my life and everything so it was justified. But it doesn’t sit right with me that their first impression of me was probably negative. They all probably think that I’m some breakable, delicate creature who can’t take care of herself. But when I’m not running for my life from magical psychos, I usually manage my own life fairly well. Thank you very much. I pull on a pair of cute jeans and one of my new tops. It’s a dark pink colour. It has long sleeves and the neckline is reasonably modest, but it’s fitted to show off my curves and the shoulders have cut outs so it shouldn’t be too warm. Feeling cute, I twist my hair into two little rope braids. They’re super easy to do, they’re comfortable and they look super cute so I’m happy with the result. I hear Torin arrive while I’m getting dressed and resolve to go say hi to him in a minute. He probably thinks I’m still asleep because I can hear him go straight to his office. I slip on my socks and shoes, then head out to look for Torin.

I’ve just exited my room when the back door opens and a man I don’t recognise is staring at me in shock. The man is tall and kind of lanky with dirty blond hair and tanned skin. I assume that this has to be Catcher, I doubt that anyone who didn’t work here would dare just walk in like that. I’m about to greet him, but Catcher’s shocked expression quickly changes to anger, or maybe fear which causes my words to fail. What’s wrong? Is there a problem? I find myself glancing around, trying to see what is freaking him out so badly. I take a couple steps towards him, intending to ask what’s wrong when Catcher rushes over and grabs my arm. Hard. What the hell? That hurts!
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing back here?” He hisses in a low voice. Why is he whispering? And did no one tell him about me? I’m about to explain but he keeps talking.
“Torin will be PISSED to find a stranger in his territory. I don’t know who you are, but you don’t look dangerous. You had better go and get out of here now before you get yourself in trouble.” He says in a harsh whisper. He begins dragging me towards the back door, not giving me a chance to explain myself. I start to panic.
“Wait, Stop. I can’t leave.” I blurt out. My heart is racing and I start to struggle against Catcher’s grip. I slip away from him but he grabs me again and shoves me towards the exit. It’s only a few feet away and I’m freaking out. He isn’t listening to me. I can’t leave, I felt the pain once for just a small part of me. I don’t ever want to feel it again. I feel like it might kill me. Catcher tries to push me through the doorway and I hold on to the door frame for dear life. I must be inches away from the edge of the barrier spell. I need Torin, he can make Catcher listen.
“HELP!” I scream.