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 Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 4:29 pm
It was only a few days later when Dari lounged with Cody on the couch. He hadn't mentioned the man's birthday once, although logically he must know it was today. Dari couldn't forget, after all. Still, he was spending his day with Cody in the normal way when an alarm went off on his phone around 5:12.
"I'll be right back," he said, and with that simply disappeared out of the apartment and down the stairs.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 4:44 pm
What? Where was Dari going? He'd never done that before. In fact, Cody didn't think he'd ever heard Dari's alarm go off before. "Er, alright," he said. He went into his kitchen and poured himself a coffee.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 4:57 pm
It only took a minute or two for Dari to return, backing his way through the door moments after he could being heard opening it. He was carrying balloons in pale and dark blue, and a couple of whites. under his arm he held a manila folder with 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY smile ' scrawled on it in pen, directly above a drawing of a stereotypical disc-shaped UFO and some planets.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 5:52 pm
Cody stared. He'd completely forgotten! He set his mug down and went around the kitchen island to kiss Dari's cheek. "I forgot that was today," he said.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 5:57 pm
Dari beamed and kissed Cody's cheek in return.
"Of course it is! It was... I don't know. A handful of seconds ago." He glanced toward the nearest clock and then smiled to Cody again. "I wasn't sure what to get you." With that being said, he offered the manila folder.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 6:17 pm
Cody blinked. Dari knew the exact time he'd been born? "You've been talking to my mom again," he complained.
He took the folder and smiled at the picture. "Did you draw this?" He asked, before flipping it open. Alien information?! He stared, eyes wide. "You're not going to get in trouble for this?" He asked.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 6:27 pm
"No, I asked you three weeks ago," Dari said, his grin growing even further.
Within the folder was the non-confidential portions of what the world knew of actual aliens, things that were generally only available to allies and, as it turned out, the spouses of entities. Not many asked for it, but it was there.
"No, no. All of the black lines and 'redacted's keep us from that. Unfortunately I couldn't do any better. But I brought baby pictures. Kind of." They were at the back, and none of the stages between blob and human, only photos of the Dari-scrapings in a jar, much larger on a table with the eaten-through tables nearby, and as a glowing eye in a dish.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 8:56 pm
Three weeks ago? "I don't remember," Cody admitted. He kissed Dari's cheeks again then moved to his lips. "I love you," he said.
He flipped through the pages and found Dari's baby pictures. He stared. "That's you?" He asked, amazed.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 9:08 pm
"That's the idea," Dari agreed with a nod. He shuffled next to Cody then and peered over his shoulder at the pictures. Those were the easiest ones to handle. There were times when he had only been partially human, or when he had been experimenting with different ways to get people's attention of communicate, all after the eerie eyeball in a dish. Cody didn't have to know about those.
"Mm-hm," he said then, "Just as sentient and lucid as now, just less learned."
In the eyeball photo Toby was holding him up, grinning like a schoolgirl in that sarcastic way he had. Oddly enough, it had crept its way into the actual files. Something about having the best angle of the images of that day.
"Don't worry, you don't have to tell me I was cute," he teased, "I just wanted to show you. Nobody outside of the FBPI has ever seen these."
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 4:37 am
"You cheated," Cody complained. He smiled then. "Everyone is less learned when they're just born, love." He took Dari's hand. "Thank you for showing me this."
"I was going to tell you your looks vastly improved with age," he grinned at Dari, swaying their hands. "I love you."
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:09 pm
"Of course," Dari said with a smile. He leaned over and kissed Cody's cheekbone. "I love you too. Now you can be the only unaffiliated person with any knowledge of actual extraterrestrials. Spoilers: disc-shaped crafts are highly inefficient."
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:16 pm
"I want to become an ally," Cody said, smiling at Dari. "When do I sign up? I'd like to have Kevin in my class this year." He paused and grinned. "Are they? What shape is best then?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:32 pm
"It all depends on the species, the planet, and then what's left to research. Only one has ever landed on purpose," Dari said, "and as for becoming an ally, it can happen when you visit the HQ, after you get a decent amount of time with entities and such. I'm not sure if Kevin is ready for school yet; you'll have to ask Lori. Toby took over guardianship a little while ago, though, so when he is ready we can just go for it."
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:34 pm
"And I'll be visiting soon," Cody smiled and nodded at Dari. "So Toby adopted him?" He asked. "Your house must be getting pretty crowded."
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:41 pm
"It's not really adoption, no. He still lives at HQ. He isn't there every day. He has to continue to be relatively independent to be successful. It's crowded sometimes I suppose, but Kevin tends to sleep on the couch when I'm home, and anyway I'm usually here."
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