(no subject)

[socrowdedinhere]

 

Ari: Oh! *smiles* I'm glad he'll be with good people. *looks at Cody* They'll love you there, I know it.

Cody: *looks hopeful but uncertain. He looks at Darnell kind of like "really? Truly?"*

Darnell: *nods* Ari's met these people too. In fact, he knows Hellboy really well.

Ari: Very well, he's a really great guy.

Cody: *smiles*  I'll be happy to meet him.

Darnell: He'll be happy to meet you too. *snickers* I hope you like cats. Hellboy has a gazillion of them.

Cody: */smiles/* I like cats.

*Cody and Darnell head to the kitchen. The boy sets his butterfly where it can be seen and will help Darnell any way allowed to make dinner.*

*They'll work and chat and make a /damned/ fine dinner (see: spoiling Cody as much as possible because the poor boy deserves it), then Darnell will spend some time searching the internet and also employing Thomas to help him find photos of Maggie*

*It’ll... prove very difficult to find pictures of her that are clear. She wasn’t the selfie type by the time those became popular, and she wasn’t close with family. For now they’ve got a few grainy photos of her when she was much younger, but nothing to really go on. Still Cody appreciates the attempt and Darnell will get lots of hugs as they’re getting ready for bed.*

Comments

[neverasked4this]

*Darnell promises to ask Thomas to have people see about contacting family and friends, even schools she attended, for more photos, but for now . . . it'll be snug but everyone should fit on Darnell's bed. Darnell suggests cradling Cody between him and Ari where he's secure and safe.*

[socrowdedinhere]

Cody: *a little nervous, but he /is/ tired... and no longer afraid. He’ll settle into bed, taking a moment to pet, scratch, and love on Ari, before turning over to /snuggle/ against Darnell. Frankly, the kid will be /out/ in short order.*
*Darnell barely turns the lights out when butterflies and a shimmering aroura form in the room.*
Ari: *softly* Oh wow. That’s beautiful.

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *also softly* Cody has the power literally to bring his imagination to life. His dreams take physical form every night. In time and with training, he'll even be able to do so at will, when he's awake. He was brought to me, though, because he's been plagued by a monster ever since he suffered a terrible trauma when he was too young to understand what was even happening. This afternoon, I figured out what the monster is, where it came from, and why. Understanding that, beginning to understand what happened to him when he was little, he can finally sleep in peace, no longer in terror of the monster that lurked there.

[socrowdedinhere]

Ari: I’m glad you were able to help him. *he jumos softly at the sound of a laugh*
*Darnell will have to sit up to see, but Cody, Ari, and Darnell have appeared on the floor. Darnell is tickling Cody, and Ari nuzzling at the boy’s cheek.*
Ari: A-aww. How sweet. *heart melting*

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *...wow, that's weird - it's one thing to see someone else that you know isn't really there, it's quite another to see YOURSELF! But after the initial shock, he grins* I'm glad we can give him good feelings and good memories. Poor kid deserves them after all he's been through.

[socrowdedinhere]

Ari: Yeah. Sounds like. *looks at Darnell* You sound horrible, by the way. You should get some sleep so you can get better.

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: Yup. Came down with a cold yesterday. If you start seeing black moths or anything else that makes you uncomfortable, wake me, okay? Ideally without waking Cody. Unless there's immediate danger.

[socrowdedinhere]

Ari: *nods* Promise. *those must be related to the monster, but hopefully Darnell is right and it’s gone. Ari will startle a time or two as new people appear and disappear, including Thomas, and even Hellboy, though Hellboy is static in expression, like he was copied from a picture or drawing. That hits “uncanny valley” real hard, but it’s not threatening, just seems a supportive presence around dream!Cody. Ari will just snuggle and stay quietly observant through the night.*

*FINALLY settles for the day* @,@

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *trusting Ari to spot any changes before he'd have to feel them to wake him, and trusting Cody to be all right, he'll sleep through the night and get the real rest his cold-fighting body needs, waking as the sun starts coming into the room*

~<3

[socrowdedinhere]

Ari: *has a blissful smile on his face when Darnell wakes and the detective will quickly see why. Cody has turned over and /snuggled to Ari’s chest and the therigan is just in /heaven/. He almost looks drunk on happy.*

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *GRINS and will carefully slip out of bed, going to take care of toiletries and then get breakfast started*

[socrowdedinhere]

Cody: *starts to stir when Darnell starts getting up, he won’t havr a chance to get out the door before the boy is starting to turn over to look for him* Hmmm?
Ari: *snuffles happily in the boy’s hair.*
Cody: *huffs a soft laugh and will /stretch/, and give Darnell a smile and Ari’s head a scratch.*

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *grins* Darn. I was hoping to have breakfast going before you got up. I thought maybe the smells from the kitchen would be a nice thing to wake to.

Woof. What an afternoon. Chiro, and then I think we’re going out to dinner, mom mentioned it

[socrowdedinhere]

((...yesterday. Will keep tagging. =3))


Ari: He could pretend to sleep while I snuggle him until he can smell breakfast. *gets an arm around the child and snuggles hil close.*
Cody: *hufflaughs* But I want to help.

<3

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *snickers* Compromise . . . Cody helps with breakfast, then you two snuggle all you want while I talk to Thomas and work on my report. Fair?

[socrowdedinhere]

Ari: I like this plan. *nuzzles Cody before letting him go.*
Cody: *hugs Ari then gets up and follows Darnell out...aaaafter a quick stop by the bathroom.*

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *yeah, that had been going to be his first stop too. He'll duck in while Cody pauses to snuggle Ari, then heads for the kitchen to start pulling things out*

[socrowdedinhere]

Cody: *slips up next to him.* What’s for breakfast?

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: I dunno. I was kinda thinking maybe… *and he'll list some possibilities - everything from Belgian waffles to eggs benedict. Yes, he likes breakfast and he likes a variety of things.*

[socrowdedinhere]

Cody: What’s eggs benedict?

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: OOooooooooh . . . guess you're about to find out. *will make sure he doesn't have any allergies (that he knows of, of course) to anything, then they'll set about fixing that*

[socrowdedinhere]

Cody: *eager to learn, he’ll help how he can, and is sooooo i terrested as Darnell plates their breakfast.* Does Ari not like eggs benedict? *looks at Ari* You didn’t have dinner wirh us either.
Ari: Oh, I ah, son’t eat solid things like you do.
Cody: What do you eat?
Ari: Um, well, energy.

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: He doesn't really eat. He just…absorbs, like a sponge picking up water. All life - people, animals, plants - have a sort of . . . something about us. What makes us different from rocks or this table, the countertop. It's a little bit like the air you breathe in and out. Ari is able to pick up on that, and it feeds him what he needs to live too. *trying to keep it as simple as he can without alarming Cody*

[socrowdedinhere]

Cody: *lips pressed together in thought.* What happens if you’re not around any people... or plants or animals...?
Ari: Well...it’d take a while, but I’d get really weak and...die. Just like you would if you never ate any food.
Cody: *nodnod* Stay close to people. We don’t want you to die.
Ari: *heart melts!* I will. Promise.

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *grinning* We definitely don't want him to die, no. He's around a lot of people normally, even if they can't see him, so he gets plenty of energy to sustain him. *will plate the dishes and set them on the table*