Toby chuckled softly. "I'd say 'at least you're warm,' but it looks like you've got chilly arms." He paused for a moment, before reaching over to the nearby chair and gathering his black leather jacket. "Here," he offered. "You can be a modern day Cinderella with a black leather jacket," he teased. "Cinderella for the new millennium, or something." The stuttering made Toby grin in spite of himself, and he shrugged a shoulder. "There are no expectations," he told her, tone genuine. "Just that you continue being you. They look up to you as you are, and I can't see anyone better for them, so you don't need to change a thing." The discomfort Kori was feeling washed over him in a wave, but fortunately he'd been expecting it, so he blocked it off and put out his own pacifying wave of calm, in hopes of easing her a little bit. Making her see that what she was doing was absolutely fine.
She talked about college and he nodded his head. "I think it makes me good at my job that I knew that you wouldn't be the partying type," he pointed out with a little laugh. "It wouldn't take much to be more 'life of the party' than I was, though," he told her with a calm smile. "Medical school was very time consuming. Between that and being a father figure to two young girls, I had barely enough time to keep up with my studies," he explained. "It sounds like I'm complaining, I'm sure, but I'm not. It wasn't that bad." He looked off sort of wistfully.
"I don't know," he shrugged. "I like to think that some people still talk to those they're jealous of. I mean... maybe not everyone, but some people. I'm slightly jealous of Evan, and how he has himself so together. I'm jealous of Eloise's intelligence, but I still talk to her. And I still manage to be friendly with them. Of course, I can't really expect others to act and react the same way I do, but I've seen people who are perfectly capable of coexisting with people they're jealous of." He paused. "I went psychologist on you, didn't I? I'm sorry," he laughed quietly. "You're only human," he told her with a smile. "Everyone cares what people think of them, no matter how much they try to deny it. Even in saying that they don't care, they've proven themselves wrong. They've noticed, you know? And in pointing out that they've noticed, they've precluded themselves from not caring. At least I always saw it that way."
With a smile, Toby shrugged. "The girls would love to have you there." And so would he, but he didn't feel the need to add that. Nor did he feel the need to mention how much he was beginning to enjoy her company, too.
He couldn't help but chuckle in response to her giggle fit, even if it was at his expense. "Well, I'll tell you what," he said, a smile still present on his face. "If you need someone to complain to, who doesn't mind complaining, you can come to me. And I don't mean in just a professional sense. We're friends, and I enjoy talking to you. Even if it is complaining." He shrugged. "And everyone needs someone to complain to." He nodded in response to her comment about Jace, though he couldn't help the worry in the back of his mind that went along with his girls being close to a fire. "It's just a matter of convincing myself of that," he chuckled softly, humorlessly.
"Which is exactly why you're perfect for the job," he gave Kori a smile. "I appreciate it. Really." He gave her a warm smile. "Because they are good girls, but they've got a crazy streak, as you can see," he nodded toward them as they wove their way through the crowd to get back to Toby, and now Kori.