|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 6:02 pm
“Fecked, then,” Nick grumbled. He was worried, but he looked to Toby for his ideas. He rose an eyebrow. He gave a nod then. “We could,” he agreed. “Disbanding a cult sounds fun.”
“Paperwork?” Tav asked.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 6:14 pm
Lori nodded. "Yeah, unfortunately there's a little bit of paperwork involved, but most of it we'll do when we're finished here. Your dad can probably co-sign."
It was two days before the process was complete. Toby had watched the news fallout for a while with the boys, sprawled on an HQ couch in a rec room. So far so good. There were theories, but presumably the people who had been gone from home for 6 months were going to follow the advice that they not tell anyone where they really were.
Toby tilted his head to look to Nick. "You wanted to talk to Dari, didn't you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 6:55 pm
Nick was delighted at the question. “Really, can I?” He asked. It was if he’d been invited to a candy shop, and everything was buy one-get-five-free. “I’d love to meet him.”
Maybe he could visit the headquarters in Arizona and meet those ghosts, too. Maybe for his next vacation... “Can we FaceTime?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 7:11 pm
"Yup," Toby replied. He pulled himself upright and pulled out his phone. "It's... 9 am there, so he should be awake." Mikey never slept until 9, and neither did he any more.
Toby slipped over next to Nick and FaceTimed Dari. For a little while it just rang, and Toby wondered if his partner hadn't been called in to work today. Apparently not, because suddenly the alien's face filled the top-right of the screen. It was his human face, however. He appeared to be out in the yard. Lower and to the left was Mikey in a sun hat.
"Hello!" Dari chimed, "Hello, Dada! Mikey, say hello!" He bounced the baby's arm with his elbow, as one hand was holding the baby and the other the phone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 8:04 pm
Cody was there in the background, seemingly trying to entice the infant into trying the kiddie pool. Instead, Mikey’s eyes were glued to the screen of the phone. His chubby fist was clamped down on wilted grass—he’d been squeezing that for a while. He waved it excitedly. “Dadada!” He babbled excitedly.
“Hey, Toby! Dari’s a good mom.” Cody joked. Mikey hadn’t been nearly as unhappy this time. “He doesn’t like the hat, though,” he added.
Mikey demonstrated his feelings about the hat by flailing and reaching for the phone. Or maybe he just wanted to see Toby...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 8:08 pm
"Hey, Buddy!" Toby said, waving. "I see you got into the grass again!"
"Some small part of him is a goat, I'm sure," Dari agreed.
"Well, too bad. We don't need a lobster-red human baby," Toby said. "Hey, Dare. Nick wants to hear all about your fancy extraterrestrial heritage. That okay?"
"Yeah! Yeah, of course. Cody, can you take him?" Dari leaned back to look at Cody, and smiled.
"Byebye, Buddy! We'll talk in a minute!" Toby promised the baby.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 9:51 pm
Nick looked like he’d expected something more. He looked from Toby and back to the phone, raising a skeptical brow.
Cody took the baby gently. bending so the infant’s toes touched the water. Mikey gave a happy squeal.”Hey! You’re not supposed to splash me,” Cody said, but he was grinning as he sat onto the grass. “I think he’s part fish, too,” he offered.
“Are you quite sure he’s an alien?” Nick asked, looking to Toby.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 4:23 pm
"He's part everything," Toby teased.
Meanwhile Dari got up to head inside. "I'll be right back!" he called to Cody. Toby nodded to Nick and watched as Dari went inside, closed the screen door, entered the living room and drew the curtains. He flicked on the lamp.
"I'm sorry, I can't exactly go wandering around in my natural form," Dari said, and as he sat on the couch he popped off his ring and became the black shape and glowing eyes that he truly was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 4:33 pm
Oh. Nick stared for a good, solid minute. "When can I meet you?" he asked, leaning forward. He'd never seen anything like this. Dari's file didn't cover nearly enough information! He needed to know more. He'd seen the pictures, but this--seeing the alien in motion was stunning!
"You're beautiful," he settled on saying. "How did you do that? Fae magic?" Was there something in his file about that?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 4:36 pm
Dari laughed outright. Beautiful! Well then! He certainly preferred that over the usual response.
"Well! I'm sure we can figure something out, if you're that interested." Sending a sample would either be inaccurate to avoid life, or his baby. He wasn't really comfortable with sending a child to Ireland to develop. "The ring?" He held it up. "Yes. Fae magic. From Lori's clan, actually."
Lori leaned over. "Hi, Dari!"
"Hello!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 4:44 pm
"Maybe I'll contact the big boss, I'm sure we could classify it under research..." Nick pondered this for a moment, and gave the alien a smile. "I'm Nick," he said, "I used to work with this guy," he looked towards Lori, "before he moved to the states. Why didn't you tell me?" His tone was accusatory, but teasing. "You didn't tell me you lot came to Ireland."
It was probably in a file somewhere. "It must be powerful, to make a second form," he prompted, looking back to the phone. He wanted to hear that story.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 4:50 pm
"He was at the wedding!" Lori defended, "He was within probably fifty feet of you at least a dozen times."
"Oh, did you? What's your race, if you don't mind my asking?" Dari questioned. He nodded then. "It's very powerful. I may have died briefly. How old was the priestess, Lori?"
"She trained my grandmother, and she was old then," Lori replied.
"Ah. Well, there you go."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 5:04 pm
"And you didn't introduce me?" Lori was on the receiving end of another playful glare. He seemed surprised by Dari's question, though. "I'm a forest elf," he said. "Uh. I forget the category, but I haven't anything exciting about me." Extended lifespan, pointy ears, sometimes a stray cat or two would follow him.
"She must be ancient, then. I heard your queen was old. Hey, do you think you'll have that sort of power when you're ancient-er?" he grinned at Lori.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 5:34 pm
Lori arched a brow at Nick over the phone.
"Maybe I'll be strong enough to heal the Smartass right out of you."
Toby snapped his fingers. "Hey. When you usurp Uncle Dari, you make it productive time."
Dari smiled. "What is it you wanted to know, Nick? Or shall we save that for when we meet?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 5:46 pm
Nick rose an eyebrow and decided to ignore Lori. There were so many questions! How did the guy move around, even? He was a sentient liquid. “How did you choose your form?” He asked. “Assuming your people aren’t humanoid... How do you move?”
He patted his pocket, and frowned when he realized he didn’t have a notepad with him. “And you said you died?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
