Kori laughed despite the idea of having to run for any reason. “I think I’m already in big trouble if I had to run. This dress weighs about thirty pounds,” she retorted. She probably could have done without a couple of the under layers she’d put in, but she was nothing if not thorough when it came to creating things. She couldn’t help the snort that escaped either when Toby made the comment about needing to surrender his man card because of the shoe conversation. “I don’t think it’s necessary, for the record,” she informed him. “I think it just means that you’re secure in your masculinity.” And she tried not to show surprise at the compliment, though she wasn’t sure she entirely agreed with it either. “I’m sure you would have been fine, Toby. You did well enough before you met me,” she pointed out.
“It makes you forget a little bit about how scary the new world is, I agree,” she mused in response with a little nod of her head. “There used to be this Halloween party that my dorm would put on every year at college, and even that wasn’t as well organized as this.” She needed to remember to give Rae and Laura some credit for the work they had put in, but most especially Rae, since it had been her brainchild to begin with. “It’s too bad that it’s just not feasible to do these things more often.” There were other, more important, things that needed to be concentrated on, even if Kori did believe that parties could be a morale booster.
It was nice having Rae, having her family, that even though she’d lost a very important part of her life, she still had more than most people. “I guess we’re just lucky that way. I mean, I feel like I’m luckier than most since I still have all of my siblings and then my best friend on top of that. Some people have just themselves,” she said quietly, recalling a few of the people she’d run into around the compound. “I wonder sometimes if people resent us, resent me, for that.” It was a fairly serious turn in conversation, but it was on of those things that when it got brought up she couldn’t help but say something, and she felt safe saying it to Toby, like he wouldn’t judge her for the thought or the concern.
Kori shrugged in response. “I always wanted a cat, but I never said anything about it when I was younger because I didn’t want my siblings to think that they would end up doing most of the work,” she explained. “And I’m not bad with animals, I’m just not naturally an animal person, if that makes any sense. Like kids I know how to deal with, but dogs and cats are just a little bit of a puzzle to me. You can’t reason with them the same way.” It wasn’t even that animals disliked her, she just felt like she was at more of a loss with them than humans.
“I can’t remember the last time I did that though,” she admitted to him with a thoughtful expression. “It was probably under Mike’s influence actually. Or maybe Rae’s.” Was it bad that she couldn’t recall a particular instance of just letting go and being? Maybe, but maybe not. It had never been in her nature to be reckless. “I could go shepherd them away if that would help,” she offered in a gentle tone after Toby admitted that fire was a serious fear of his. “I’m sure I could find somewhere safer for them to be. Especially since I heard Jace saying something about fire-breathing the last time I walked by.” She thought that he probably didn’t want to project his own fears onto the girls, but she didn’t see why that meant he had to be anxious about where they were. The girls were old enough to understand things, she thought.
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. “It sounds like you need to find them a new hobby, mister,” she commented. “I could help with that, direct their mischievousness somewhere that isn’t you.” She herself had never even thought to make a game of seeing how far she could push Leah, but then she’d always been so concerned about meeting people’s approval when she was younger.