Cipher

Chapter 2: Fallen

It was dark as Isaac made his way back from the kitchen, water bottle in hand. It was well after midnight, the house lit only by a few scattered nightlights plugged into the walls. He quietly climbed the carpeted stairs not wanting to wake Aaron or his parents. It had been a long night spent talking and getting to know not only Cipher, but Duane too. It had been interesting to finally see Cipher in person and meet his guardian.

There was a muffled thud from Cipher's room. Concerned, Isaac knocked quietly "Cipher? You okay?"

There came a rustle and the door opened revealing an embarrassed looking Cipher. "Sorry for waking you."

"It's fine, I was already up. Is everything alright?" he asked looking past Cipher and into the nearly pitch black room behind him.

"I am fine. I just landed a little harder than expected."

"Landed? Did you fall?" Isaac asked blearily.

Cipher sighed, pulling the door open wider to let Isaac through. "I fell off the desk," he admitted not meeting Isaac's eyes even in the dark.

"You're not hurt, are you?" he seemed fine, but what did Isaac know about aliens. "And what were you doing on the desk?"

Cipher gave him a strange look, "I did not injure myself. I simply did not land gracefully." He sat heavily on the bed. "As to why the desk-" he gestured to the window as if that were an answer, but it was so dark in the room Isaac had trouble making anything out.

Then Isaac realized exactly why it was so dark. "Did you put blankets over the window? No wonder you fell, it's darker than black in here."

"I did not think it would bother me. The window just lets in so much light." Cipher paused seeing the doubt on Isaac's face, "you have never been to an Aeolian burrow."

Isaac couldn't quite tell if it was a question or a statement. He guessed the latter. "Can you seriously see right now?" Isaac could barely see general shapes of things in the room.

"Everything Aeolians build is underground." Cipher sighed. "Even so, I really did not think having a window would bother me." he rubbed his eyes.

"It's just another adjustment, I guess," Isaac stifled a yawn, "not the end of the world. I bet always being underground would bother me."

Cipher tilted his head. "Why? Humans build underground as well."

"Well," Isaac sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "I guess we like our space. Some people feel trapped when they're underground or in a small space or... I don't know. People are all different and weird. I'm sorry, it's way too late for long conversations. If the light really bothers you we can probably get some blackout curtains or something."

"I understand," Cipher said. "I did not mean to keep you from your sleep. I read that humans require quite a lot of it to function properly."

Isaac stood there for a moment, not saying anything. Then, "Okay, let's circle back to all that tomorrow. Or today I guess. Later, much later." he trailed off. "Good night then."

"Good night."