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 Posted: Mon May 09, 2016 6:35 pm
Dari pursed his lips and looked over the menu. Something different than last time for sure. Oh, and they had those 100-drink machines! He was going to make a new mix too. Maybe they could be silly with flavors and cheer Cody up more.
"I dunno, what about you? It's on me tonight."
As it turned out, several mixtures of soda were absolutely disgusting, but if it made Cody laugh it was well worth it. When they were full and finished, Dari took Cody's hand again and opened the car door for him.
"Ready to head home?"
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2016 6:48 pm
"Yeah," Cody kissed Dari's cheek and climbed into the car. He was really looking forward to fixing up that old book and spending more time with Dari after that--that fiasco.
He didn't really want to be alone.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2016 7:05 pm
The drive home was pleasant. Dari made a point of keeping everything positive, even if Cody's parents came up. He'd thought he saw something different in his mother, and it seemed he'd been right. At least he hoped he had.
When they got home, Toby was still well awake and lounging on the couch. He offered the boys a wave and a smile. "You staying tonight, Code?"
"He is," Dari said.
"Alright, I'll move up to my room--"
"No, no, it's fine. We're going to paint first."
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2016 7:44 pm
"You could hang out with us," Cody offered. He was surprised by the nickname, but it was nice to feel accepted after earlier. "Dari says he has glow in the dark paint to help me fix this," he held out the book for Toby to take. "Its so old, the original stopped working."
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 1:18 pm
"Let me see if I can go find it," Dari said, and then disappeared around the back and down the basement stairs.
Toby took the book in his hands and smiled. The book was old though not quite vintage and definitely well-loved. He handled it gently. Just as Dari had, he cupped his hands around his eye and bent over the book in his lap. Nope. No more glow.
"I think you probably wore it off," Toby said, closed the book gently and handed it back. "You're home early... did it..." Err. "...not go well?"
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 1:26 pm
"Alright," Cody agreed, looking to Dari and watching him go. "Probably. I used to take it on camping trips, and all." He took the book back and set it on the coffee table.
His expression crumpled slightly. "My parents are homophobic," He sighed. "We were kicked out before dinner was over."
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 1:28 pm
Toby winced. He wasn't sure how that hadn't been conveyed earlier, but it really wasn't any of his business. Had Cody never used pronouns? Had he used them, and had his parents mind-blipped over them? Eh, it didn't matter. Poor kid.
"I'm sorry about that. Life can be s**t sometimes. Is there anything I can do to help somehow?"
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 1:33 pm
"I dunno. Dari says they'll see sense, but..." Cody shook his head. "I didn't imagine this when I planned to introduce him. They were awful. Acted like he was scum. They'd said how excited they were to meet him, and I don't know." Why did it matter what Dari had in his pants? "They couldn't see how great he is."
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 1:44 pm
Toby smiled. "Sure, we share genetics. Of course he's great."
He waited a moment and patted the seat beside him. Come, sit. He could offer sympathy at the very least.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that. People can be awful." He nearly launched into a tirade about male stripping in the 50s, but bit his tongue. With proper math he'd just been at it in the 90s. "Some people are ridiculous in their convictions. I don't get it, personally. I don't think I ever will. When I was in school it was... pretty bad."
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 1:56 pm
Cody sat awkwardly. "Yeah. I even threw things they'd taught me back in their face but they still acted like Dari was filth." He sighed. "I honestly thought they'd have noticed by now. I've never taken anyone to meet them. I've never felt the way I do about Dari about anyone else."
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 2:09 pm
Toby shook his head. "People only see what they want to see."
"So they're religious, then?" If he was throwing teachings back in their faces, that general meant Jesus was involved somehow. "How did Dari take it?" He very narrowly avoided calling him 'the sack of slime.' That would NOT go well with their current level of information sharing.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 2:16 pm
"Hm, yeah. You're right. Dari said the same thing."
Cody sighed. "Yeah. They're Baptists. Dad's an elder in the church and goes out helping people when the church does emergency mission trip things. They asked if being gay was the reason I stopped going." He rolled his eyes. "I stopped because they were only helping people to get them into their religion. Sort of cultish. I don't know. It bugged me when I was a teenager. You can give presents to needy kids without preaching."
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 2:42 pm
Ah, yes. Small scale missionaries. Toby pushed his mouth over to one side.
"Yeah, I don't like that much either." He dealt with actual cultists more than missionaries, though. He couldn't remember the last time someone came to his door peddling their religion. He couldn't help but notice: "they're Baptists," not "we're Baptists."
"Well, I'm sorry it came to all this. We're here if you ever need a place to escape to, though." Hell, now the majority of their usual group was gay anyway.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 2:54 pm
Cody paused at the offer. He hadn't expected that. He gave Toby a smile. "Thanks," he said. "I'm glad Dari's got a great family behind him." Dari seemed to think the world of his older brother.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 2:56 pm
...uh. Well he'd given Cody a key, so why did the kid seem so pleased? Regardless, Toby smiled back.
"Of course, and unfortunately for you, you're family now too. So you're stuck with us." For however long this lasted. Poor Dari. At least they were happy.
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