Tobias smiles as Wren hugs him, nodding to her as she moves to depart, offering,

"Don't you be a stranger, huh? We'll all have to hang out again soon." And with that, Wren takes to the sky again, presumably for home, with picnic basket and fried chicken in tow. With a smile, he turns to bring his luminous gaze to Grace and her question, though he has to chuckle as Tank emerges from the the mondo grass skirting the front of the house, immediately bunting against Grace's leg, weaving figure-of-eights between her ankles, trilling purrs and the occasional 'meow' of interest filling the air. Tobi's luminous gaze returns to the winged girl's deep blue eyes,

"And you've just become Tank's new best friend because you mentioned 'dinner'. As for us? Well, why don't we see, huh?"

He gently opened the front door, leading the two of them plus cat, who simply refused to leave Grace's ankles alone, into the living area, where Alan was in the midst of cooking, a kitchen towel slung over one shoulder as he paused, tapped his spectacles further up the bridge of his nose and intoned,

"Ah! You're home! I was just about to serve up. Nothing complicated, just a stir fry and some rice but there's more than enough for all of us if you're interested."

Alan had...never quite gotten the hang of cooking with the same sort of efficiency as his wife had. He always looked utterly frantic when cooking, the normally deft and calm doctor constantly embattled by the art of juggling so many minute details at once, a thin sheen of perspiration dotting his brow.

That said, if there was anything to say about his efforts, they always worked out for the better, the salty-sweet scents of something likely teriyaki-based filling the kitchen air amid other smells like sesame oil, garlic and ginger.

Alan smiles at her complement, bobbing his head in a gentle nod of thanks as he goes on to explain,

"I know, I know. I don't have to. However, I'd rather see to it that until your wing is healed, you're able to relax and get in a few, good, nourishing meals. After all, It's not like I've got much of a job to head to with my lab out of commission. Though, if there's something from home you're really hankering for and you want to take command of the kitchen, just tell me. Tobias is nothing if not good with instructions."

Tobias grinned in response, a gentle nod of agreement following as he contributed jokingly,

"Usually the simple ones. Anything more than 'put the thing over there' tends to cause short circuits."

He winks cheekily to her, before watching Tank circle around to Alan's side of the bench, a trilling, whuffing meow of anxiousness filling the air as he tried his best to stretch a paw up to reach the top of the bench. He nearly succeeds, a paw emerging just beside Alan's hip as he chuckles, Tobias shaking his head and moving to collect some kibbles from the pantry,

"Better feed the household tiger. Hate to have him trying to eat anyone present."

At this, Tank emerges from behind the island bench again, turning in a circle, tail held high and ears forward, bright eyes following Tobias while he licks his fuzzy chops. The way the cat sits upon his haunches causes his chest fur to puff out, making him look ever so proud and regal as the feather duster of a tail drifts lazily back and forth across the tiled floor, ears turning gently as the familiar ring of food hitting his food dish catches his tufted ears.

All of Tank's previously regal nature vanishes the moment Tobias puts his dish down, a chirruping meow emanating from the previously kingly beast as he buries his head in his food dish, the sound of munching filling the air as he receives several long pats from Tobi, who simply folds his arms and shakes his head,

"Food has appeared, Tank is happy. All's right with the world."

He punctuates with a smile as he turns to watch Grace help out with the doling out of dinner, Alan blinking and then smiling gratefully to the winged, young lady,

"Thanks, Grace. Now..."

He begins doling out portions of rice first, filling up half of each bowl with such in varying degrees for varying appetites, before doing the same with the stir fry itself. It contains a mixture of vegetables: snow peas, baby corn, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, chicken and of course the wonderfully-smelling sauce. By the time he's finished, there appear to be three very specifically sized bowls, two larger portions and a smaller one for himself, figuring that Tobias and Grace both seemed possessed of a hunger beyond that of normal human ranges. A final sprinkling of sesame seeds over the top calls the meal done, Tobi already hovering nearby, eyes gleaming with anticipation,

"Nothing for it, now. Let's eat!"

Tobias too is feeling...remarkably hungry. Perhaps it was simply the activity of the day, perhaps it was something else...whatever the case, the mounded bowl of stir fry and rice has him eagerly peering at the dining table, then back to Alan who gestures, smiling,

"Well, don't let me keep you. Go, eat!"

He chuckles a little, knowing full well the reasons for what appeared to be the pair's seemingly abnormal appetites. Grace's situation was simple. Avian dimorphism was often accompanied by a ravenous appetite due to the extra appendages and the faster metabolism required to fuel them. Add to that her situation of needing to heal an injury, as well as her innate healing ability...

Well, Alan was honestly surprised by her show of self-control.

Tobias' situation was decidedly different, but his requirements were very much the same. He factored that GUARDIAN was in the process of optimizing his son's muscles, further strengthening them beyond that of initial parameters, always improving, evolving the 'weapon' that the AI had been given to create. Enhancing muscles would be a simple situation...however if he ever broke a 'bone'....

Alan quietly thumbed his chin at that, supposing what might be the most readily available source of easily ingestible titanium...While Tobias, needing no further cue than a gesturing hand, immediately finds a seat, fork in hand and begins hauling stir fry into his face with little apology for his ravenous appetite. With a chuckle, Doctor Wishart shakes his head and implores his son,

"Tobi...I'm aware you're hungry, but if you could slow down enough to actually [i]taste[/i] some of it, that'd probably be a good idea."

Tobias had paused mid-chew, one of a rare few he'd deployed during his shovelling to listen to his father's sagely advice, a momentary nod following before he slows his fiendish eating pace to something resembling a more...normal speed. With a momentary smile, Alan explains,

"Don't worry. You don't have to keep up with him. I ate like that when I was his age, too. And on top of still growing, Tobias also has to contend with a host of other additions. His situation, along with his appetite is...unique, to say the least."

Thankfully Alan eats at a much more reasonable rate, rapping his chopsticks against the table to line them up before beginning his meal. For a moment, a blessed silence falls across the table, likely the finest compliment that any cook, professional or otherwise could receive. Alan can only find himself nodding in approval. Sure, it may not be entirely authentic, but it was certainly good.

At one point, Tobias pauses to smile to Grace, the winged girl looking every bit like she was enjoying her meal as well. For some reason, seeing [i]her[/i] happy made him happy...and Alan is rather quick to notice. He'd made a gentle note of Grace's opting to sit beside his son, initially thinking little of it save for the fact that the two of them had established a rapport. However, the occasional glance, the smiles and other pieces of evidence suggest that...perhaps something more was starting to develop.

Thankfully he'd not say anything until the situation was entirely conclusive. And he knew his son...while apparently not one to stand on ceremony...was smart enough not to do anything foolish.

A gentle clattering of fork against bowl heralds the end of Tobias' meal. While previously considered to be a monolithic task, it would appear that he'd dealt with it without so much as batting an eyelid. There follows a contented sigh of delight, Tobi sitting back in his chair, nodding in vehement agreement. Curiously, his eyes are glowing somewhat brighter for the influx of new fuel. While he still had the reactor in his chest, which covered most, if not all the day-to-day energy requirements that his body needed, adding extra fuel, in this case 'food', caused a sort of overdrive, his systems compensating by augmenting organ function and increasing efficiency. In actual fact, Tobias could effectively survive without food for a good couple of days and still remain functional...however, eventually the pangs of hunger would find him seeking out nourishment, so it was best to keep them satiated before they became a problem.

"That hit the spot. Didn't realise I was that hungry." He says, smiling, his appetite having been a little distracted by a certain white-winged, thoroughly pretty young lady presently sitting just beside him. In the meantime, Alan blinks, the rhythmic buzz of a cellphone emanating from the island bench catching his ear as he raises a hand to request 'one moment', and ducks off to answer it. Little snippets of his conversation would filter into the room from outside, things such as "Really?" and "How...we could actually [i]do[/i] that?".

Tobias in the meantime just smiles and gives Grace a gentle nudge with a shoulder, adding,

"Probably more research stuff. He'll be getting a lot of calls like that over the next couple of weeks. Happened a lot when he was helping pull together the whole 'meta-human surgery techniques' thing."

Tobias nods in agreement at her comment about avoiding further scientific poking and prodding now that he's awake, shrugging,

"Honestly, I was just the conduit for their research to take a leap forward. I can imagine there's going to be a few tests. How much I can lift, probably an endurance test or something...but I'd be surprised if the docs suddenly came to me and started requesting more...invasive stuff. Dad would probably be the first one to stand in the way if things got too strange. After all, he did all of this to save my life. As far as he's concerned, I've already contributed [i]enough[/i] to the advancement of medical science."

He smiles to Grace, trying to pick up on the conversation Alan was having on the phone in the other room, only hearing snippets. However, the gist of the conversation sounds positive, and perhaps somewhat of a surprise. With a shrug, he turns set his glowing, green eyes on Grace again, lingering for a moment as his thoughts tick over.

He was at this juncture amazed at how strongly the pair of them seemed to draw from contrasting personalities. His was boisterous, vocal and cheerful, while Grace seemed to always carry such a demure, kind and gentle demeanour about her at all times...and yet, someone like that had been the first pair of hands on the deck in the midst of a fire fight. Amazement at such turns to another flickering flare of attraction, the preternaturally empathetic young lady likely able to feel such with her unique senses as Tobi speaks again,

"But yeah, he is a nice guy. Now you know where I get it from."

His eyes flit to his hands, then back to Grace's vivid, blue eyes, the gentle smattering of freckles on her face, the rich brown hair...again, thoroughly enraptured by not just her fair features, but the fact that such a fair face, a fair personality appreciated his attention as he did her's.

Tobias peers at his hand...or rather through his hand to imagine the titanium alloy bones, the servo motors, the incredible technology that had been poured into his being to save his life. Oddly enough, he didn't feel strange, or as if he'd cleaved away a sizeable chunk of his humanity in order to survive...However, he did know that he was now certainly different. He could feel the strength of his frame with every movement, every twitch of his muscles. He could feel the energy of the reactor in his chest, his whole being almost thrumming with power.

"Yeah...I hear that....though strangely, I don't even feel GUARDIAN in my day to day workings. It's like he's...well, It's almost like your healing ability. You can sense when people are upset, or angry, or happy. It's kinda like that with me...except that instead of empathy, GUARDIAN's knowledge, his direction almost...layers itself over my mind. It's like a higher sense of awareness, y'know? I just [i]know[/i] how to pick up and shoot an assault rifle. I just [i]know[/i] where the weak points on an Abrams tank are. I can track an incoming mortar shell in the air, figure out it's trajectory and blast radius and know if it's something I should move out of the way of. It's not like I've got two personalities running around in my head, It's just....I know more, see more, and am aware of more, both around me and of myself because GUARDIAN is there."

Having previously noted her concern about bringing up the attack a few days ago, he simply smiles, this time setting his shoulder against hers, the corded muscle of his arm resting against hers as a glint of confidence flickers in his glowing eyes,

"Yeah, not everyone is going to see things the way you, me or my dad does....but for people who try and push their luck, or resort to using force to try and coerce me? Well...I've got nothing but pity for them...because anyone who tries to mess with me...or anyone I care about, is going to have a very, VERY bad day."

At this distance...or lack of such, Tobias is hit with some rather interesting ideas, those specifically pertaining to Grace. Not only was the demure, rosy blush in her cheeks doing little in the means of dissuading him, at this proximity, he could practically count the number of freckles dotting the bridge of her nose...

...A targeting bracket appeared, cycling through each, individual spot, finally giving Tobias an exact number: twenty-seven.

He blinked, thankfully only once, a seemingly natural action as he dared to lean closer, into space that was decidedly more intimate, his heart picking up speed as he made with a decidedly daring move...

...only to have a warning appear in his vision, alerting him that his heart rate had increased beyond nominal parameters. It took all of half a thought to dismiss the message, however it appeared that GUARDIAN was attempting to do it's job...a little TOO well.

Footsteps immediately caught Tobias' ears as Alan made his way back into the room, Causing the augmented lad to retreat just a little, not wanting to embarrass Grace any by being caught in the act of something more intimate than either of them supposed Alan was wise to. As Doctor Wishart appeared in the room, he appears to be decidedly ecstatic, adding,

"Good news! It appears that we've got more data than we previously thought. Logs that GUARDIAN made while you were under suggest that we could use nanomachines for organ treatment and repair vectors. We might even be able to augment such to improve human longevity! Isn't that great?"

At this news, Tobias manages to cover for the both of them, gently clearing his throat and nodding, gesturing to his father before managing to speak,

"That's great news. Though..."

Tobi's expression turns momentarily droll as he levels his gaze at Alan,

"Though, please tell me this isn't going to need me to go under the knife to furnish you guys with tissue samples...."

Most of his dersive expression was out of a blatant dislike for the notion of having to submit to biopsies or other invasive procedures again....while a tiny flicker of such followed the same concourse, a mental musing of 'you just had to come back in [i]now[/i], didn't you?' momentarily flaring up in his mind.

Alan is swift to do away with any sort of worry about invasive procedures, clarifying,

"No no! No need for that. We're already planning to run our own tests separate from anything you could potentially need to provide us with. Not to mention performing a biopsy on you would basically be impossible now due to the presence of your sub-dermal armor."

Tobias actually sighs with relief at that, nodding and finally firing of a more genuine smile. It seemed what he'd volunteered to undergo was providing dividends above and beyond what he'd supposed it would. He'd always maintained that if the operation could help people beyond just himself, he'd be happy with it, and if the initial research was anything to go by, there'd be considerable aid provided to the general public.

"Then that's great news." Tobi offers with level inflection. "Glad to see we're getting more out of this situation than we bargained for."

Alan, remarkably oblivious to the situation that had previously been occuring simply sighs with accomplishment, before blinking and flicking his gaze to Grace, who looked to him as though she might be fading fast, her head down as if she were beginning to nod off.

"Grace, you look tired. Did...you want to call it a night?"

Alan simply smiled and offered,

"Not a problem at all, Grace. I figure all I'm doing is providing the same sort of services that a hospital would...only with decidedly nicer surrounds. Some people don't react well to the more clinical, sterile environment. In the end, the best way you can thank me is by healing properly and getting back to flying again. Rest well, and I'll see you in the morning."

Tobias follows as Grace comes to stand, stretching somewhat before nodding,

"Yeah, I think an early night might do us all good. Been a big day, after all."

With a nod of agreement coming from Alan, Tobias simply gestures to Grace and inquires,

"Did you want me to walk you over again? Never know when one of those ravenous opossums might try to attack, y'know."

Going by his expression, he's clearly joking about the 'ravenous wildlife', more being polite and chivalrous than anything else.

Alan makes with a decidedly surprised face, smiling nary a moment afterwards and uttering,

"Well, it would appear that chivalry isn't dead after all. Sleep well, Grace."

With that, Doctor Wishart turns to head for some much-needed rest, leaving Tobias and Grace thankfully alone and to their own devices. With a smile, Tobi is suddenly aware of the fact that his previous...attempt had been a decidedly spur of the moment thing, a whim that had appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The moment had been almost entirely right...

...and everything in existence had conspired to shoot giant holes in it.

Could he manage something similar again? Would it even be possible? After all but an eye blink of a moment, Tobias simply opts for taking the first of the few steps toward the guest house, pausing for a moment as they walk out onto the pool deck before he speaks again, certainly not wanting his father to hear anything,

"So...you're still okay with going out tomorrow? I figure we could start whenever you felt ready. No need to make things too formal."

As their footsteps bring them lazily onto the pool deck, apparently in no hurry to get anywhere, his eyes follow the paths of the moths flittering around the lights outside, their initial path toward the moon interrupted by one of the myriad of lights present around his home. At her statement, he shrugs, smiling to and offering,

"I'd hate to go imposing a schedule on something like that. I always said that if my health miraculously turned around while I was a teenager and I was in the position to start dating people....I always figured that I'd try and keep things more relaxed. I mean would [i]you[/i] be excited for a date if the first thing you were presented with was an itinerary?"

He actually poses this question...and likely a few others to come in such a way that she has time to figure out exactly what she'd want from the prospect of a 'date', as it were. It was as much for her benefit as it was for his, making sure things were enjoyable for her once time came.

After all, he wasn't exactly an expert in this field either. As they approach the hedged privacy wall, he turns smiling to her and offering,

"Though in the end, the only thing I think you [i]should[/i] do is enjoy yourself, okay?" For some reason he finds himself compelled to gently take both of her hands, his gaze set on hers as if to strengthen the honest intention of his statement with touch.

Tobias...hadn't really considered what about a date was suppose to be so special, how people came to find themselves in a relationship afterward...but if there was apparently one thing he was clear on, it was the notion that it shouldn't be boring, should be entertaining, and should be about the person you invited. With a gentle smile he nods at her statement, it more of a sign of hope than anything.

"Sometimes, that's all you can do...." He then emits a small sound of mirth and adds "And believe me, I'd like a guide book for the whole 'dating' rigmarole as well. All I've got to go on is vague notions...but you can bet I'll be trying, too."

There follows a gentle squeeze of both of his hands, further cementing the more intimate nature of his touch before he sighs and offers,

"Well, I suppose I'd better let you get some sleep. But...I'll be looking forward to seeing you in the morning...and don't worry. I'm hardly the sort of person to go judging you for not knowing what to do...nor am I the kind of guy to be offended by it, either."

Tobias nods gently, smiling to her,

"As I said, I don't want to make any of this too formal. We'll go out, we'll have some fun. Take our minds off things for a while."

Again he seems entirely honest, though curiously, he's actually starting to take to observing her wing behaviour as much as more 'human' body language. Close to her body meant generally negative, wings comfortably away from her back and feathered puffed was generally a good thing. His thumbs gently stroke over the backs of her hands one last time before he reluctantly lets them go, smiling, the glow of his eyes much more vivid in color than at other times,

"Okay...though I'm certainly not going to be drumming on your door at five in the morning. There's 'eager' and then there's 'too eager', after all. Sun will at least be well and truly up before I suggest we get going."

With that, he takes a single step back, a hand coming to scrub gently at the back of his neck in lieu of anything else they should do, Tobi feeling a little lost as to just how he should finish this conversation and make tomorrow morning happen as quickly as possible. Finally he manages to utter, with somewhat awkward inflection,

"I...guess I'll see you tomorrow morning, then?"

Tobias had only taken a couple of steps toward the house as Grace's voice had caught his ear, causing him to halt, turn on the spot and arch a brow, a gentle pulse of vivid, green light emanating from his eyes at the sound of her words.

And then she does something most curious...

He watches as her good wing extends from her back, to it's full, magnificent length, white feathers glistening in the seemingly cold light of the pool's illuminating lamps...to gently brush the tip of one of her flight feathers against his cheek. It was an entirely curious gesture, but the emotion and intimate intention certainly wasn't lost on him. He smiles gently, the section of his cheek that had been lucky enough to be brushed by her soft feather tip glowing gently as he nods, somewhat akin to a small bow and offers,

"You're welcome, Grace. Sleep well."

With that, her wing snaps back to her again, leaving the scent of such lingering in the air, a precious snippet that he'd carry with him to his sleep, watching as she finally turns to vanish into the Guest House and out of sight. The moment she disappears from view, he finds himself gently shutting his eyes, sighing and smiling to himself, the touch still lingering on his cheek. He'd eventually head back to the house, with the intention of getting to sleep...

...However, to describe Tobias' evening as 'fitful' would be a gross understatement. He simply couldn't bring himself to feel tired.

He'd occupy his time until morning wandering the vast sea of information on the internet...and even when dawn crested on the horizon and the sky began to lighten at the behest of the rising son, he'd still not feel any iota of exhaustion associated with missing a night's sleep. It was odd, yes. Something he'd have to speak to someone about, but for now, he had more important things to focus on.