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 Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 3:54 pm
"Yes! Yes, I want to go dancing," Dari said.
"We haven't even gone dancing together, Maia!" Toby said.
"Well, now you will," Dari replied.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:00 pm
"We should go," Maia said, smiling brightly. There, now she didn't have to ask Toby if he'd like to go dancing. "When it gets warmer, we should go swimming again." She studied Dari for a moment. "Do you think you'd freeze if you swam now? I don't think we should risk it."
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:12 pm
"I don't know," Dari said, "Can I feel hot or cold?" He touched himself on the arms and face. He wasn't sure. He knew what humans did when they felt such things but didn't know what it actually felt like.
"What kind of dancing?" Lori mumbled to Toby, "Like nineteen-sixties dancing?"
Toby furrowed his brow and put a finger to his lips, but was clearly laughing. "Shhhhhh..."
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:20 pm
Maia was silent for a moment before putting her hand to Dari's cheek briefly. Could he feel her warmth? "We'll find out when we get to the hotel," she said. "Though I don't suggest putting your head in the freezer."
She looked to Lori and Toby up front, and blinked. "1960s dancing?" She echoed.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:23 pm
Dari leaned into Maia's hand and closed his eyes a moment. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, but it was nice. Plus he could turn off his sight. That was new.
Lori laughed suddenly. "Oho! You didn't tell her?"
"I haven't found the time," Toby said, hitting Lori.
"Your boyfriend w--" Lori began, but Toby cut him off. "I danced for a potion of my life. Professionally."
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:27 pm
"Tell me what?" Whatever it was, Toby seemed rather embarrassed. "Like ballet?" she asked, blinking. He really didn't seem the type...
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:29 pm
Lori continued laughing, louder now.
Toby turned a bit pink. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the right words.
Dari answered for him. "No, like a stripper." He let Maia's hand go and opened his eyes again.
"DARI."
"What? It happened, there's no shame in it."
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:36 pm
A stripper? ...Well. Well, she couldn't say she'd expected that. "Really?" she asked, interestedly. "In the sixties? I can see it." She shook her head, looking back to Dari. "Does he have any other interesting secrets?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:39 pm
Dari shrugged. He didn't know what Toby had or hadn't told her!
"I was just a bartender! I was paying off college and I was a bartender, and then I got an offer, and I made a lot better money--" he paused and turned hard against his seat to look at Maia more directly. Hell, when you couldn't beat them... "and I was good at it too!"
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:45 pm
Maia was grinning. She shook her head at Toby and ruffled his hair. Maybe he'd show her his talent, later, if he was so good at it? She didn't want to ask in front of the other guys. Maybe this new form limited Dari's hearing as well? "I love you," she said.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:47 pm
Turning even pinker, Toby fell back into his seat.
"I love you too."
Lori was down to tittering, keeping himself under control to keep them on the road. Seamus wandered into the front of the car and sat in Toby's lap.
Dari went back to his candy and to staring at the window for his own reflection.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 5:02 pm
The group arrived home jet-lagged but in one piece the next evening. Seamus made it in first, and Dari held the door open for the others to enter.
"Home sweet home!" Toby said and dropped his bags beside the door.
Dari took his shoes off immediately to feel the floor.
Peaches came running, or more accurately jogging and bouncing out from the bedroom, already squinting. His people!
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 5:07 pm
Maia followed Toby's example ans set her bags on the floor. She scooped Peaches up immediately, snuggling him close. "Hi baby," she greeted him. "I've missed you!" She took him over to Dari. "Look," she said. "Do you recognize Dari?" She offered Dari the cat. "He's soft."
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 5:15 pm
Toby gave Peaches a scratch as he and Maia passed. Whether or not he recognized Dari was not quite clear. The cat was looking the man over a bit, but he was just as limp and compliant as ever. Dari took the cat, felt his fur, and then lifted him to smell him. This was an all new world, and it was where he had been living for years!
"Hello, Peaches," he said and kissed the cat's head. He was definitely soft. it was different than before.
"How's he feel?"
"Nice."
"How's he smell?"
"Like a cat."
"Touche."
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 5:31 pm
Maia smiled brightly. While Peaches was probably not intelligent enough to realise that the alien who'd left was this new guy, it didn't seem to matter. She went over to Toby and took his hand. "Glad to be home?" she asked. It'd be nice for Dari, too. He could learn how to live and interact here.
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