Out of the Blue - 1. Chapter 1

Sitting on the porch outside his house, Ruben leaned back so far he was almost lying in his chair. So many stars glinted in the vastness of the dark sky. As always, the endless dome and the looming forest across the yard made him feel completely at home. Something about the quiet and space spoke to him, to his core.

He exhaled deeply and watched as his breath formed a thin tendril of mist which quickly evaporated in the cool October air. It wasn’t cold yet, but it was clear summer was over and autumn had staked its claim. In a way, it made him relax. He could do nothing about the passing of the seasons. Still, another summer had gone by and the chair next to him remained empty.

Reaching for his bottle of beer, he shook his head. He was not going to give in to those thoughts tonight. He would spend this evening without his sometime companion, gloom. He would spend the evening without the nagging thought of never meeting anyone if he remained out here in the middle of nowhere. Was a boyfriend too much to ask for? Perhaps. Maybe he only got what he deserved, being stubborn and refusing to listen to everyone’s ‘advice’ about moving into the city. He just couldn’t do it. The mere thought of leaving his little house made him sadder than not having a guy in his life right now. Dating was fun, but also kind of a hassle. He almost always had to book a hotel room when he ventured into the city. Sure, he could stay with his mother, but the mere thought of going to her place after a date made his toes curl. And not in a good way.

A strange whirring sound broke him out of his train of thought. It sounded eerily similar to a grenade or some other large projectile flying through the air very close to the house. He quickly left his porch and looked at the sky. At first, he couldn’t see anything, but as he turned around, a bright light came into sight. As the object closed in on him, he realized whatever it was would crash. The trajectory was simply not consistent with continued flight. When the object passed over his head, he saw it was in fact larger than he had initially thought, but it went by so fast he couldn’t get a good look at it. On instinct he ducked, but without letting the object out of his sight. It disappeared behind the treetops. There was a loud crash and he could see flames, which seemed to die down almost immediately though.

Without thinking, he took off running toward the crash site. All he could think of was that someone might be onboard that thing. Going as fast as he could, he ran through damp grass and jumped over the occasional root, trying to keep his bearings even though he was surrounded by dense forest, so he wouldn’t lose his direction. As he got deeper into the woods, he could smell it. A weird smell, not the expected odor of leaking gas or burning cables. No, this was different. Foreign somehow. Unlike anything he had ever smelled before.

When he reached a clearing up ahead, he saw it. Reduced to a heap of twisted metal, the original shape was hard to tell. Not that he was able to identify any kind of known aircraft. Sleek and grey, it looked like a jet fighter but without the wings and there were no markings or similar identification on the hull. It was bigger than he’d thought. Luckily, there was no longer any fire. Only the odd spark here and there, possibly from the wrecked electronics. Ruben’s heart and brain started to slow down, now that there didn’t seem to be quite the urgency he had feared. He stopped halfway across the clearing, trying to decide what to do. Was there someone inside? Or was it an unmanned aircraft?

”Hello?” He felt kind of silly, but he wanted to give whoever had been flying the thing an opportunity to hear him approaching. There was no answer. ”Hello?” Still only silence.

Slowly, he walked closer, finally circling the wreck and trying to figure out where to look for a pilot. As he examined the craft, he noticed a section that appeared to be some sort of blackened glass and not metal. Even though he had no idea how it was operated, he guessed most people would like to see where they were going.

There were no obvious ways to open the ’windshield’ and the glass was too dark to let him see the inside. Not even when he put his hands on the oddly shaped dome of glass and leaned in close, with his face practically pressed up against it, did he see anything. Next, he attempted to grab on to the dome, but there were no handles or indentions to hold on to. His hands slipped and the dome didn’t budge. Frustrated, he banged the sides of the glass with his fist. Without warning, it came loose with a hiss and flew over his head across the clearing to land behind him. He had to duck to the side to avoid being hit. That was close! He turned his attention back to the craft. Leaning forward, peering over the rim of the hull, he couldn’t see anything at first, but as his eyes grew accustomed to the dim light, he saw him. Or it. Or whatever it was. A being, a creature, an existence… Definitely something alive.

The slumped-over figure wore some sort of dark-grey uniform. Its head was bald and instead of hair there were several small, softly-shaped, bumpy protrusions following the contours of the skull. The color of the skin was an intense pale green-blue with a good hint of grey in it, not like any existing skin color on Earth. Teal? Was that even a color? The pilot’s appearance sure was an impressive costume. Could it be a person in disguise out to play a prank on someone? Only, Ruben couldn’t think of anyone, who would play a prank on him and they were too far in the middle of nowhere for any of his neighbors to be the intended victims.

Ruben rubbed his chin absentmindedly, wondering what to do. Was it safe to move the unconscious guy? How long would it take for an ambulance to show up? A few sparks flying past his face quickly helped him to make up his mind. The pilot had to get out of there, prank or no prank. Gingerly, he climbed the craft and reached inside. The man felt warm and somewhat pliable in his hands, but wouldn’t budge. After a few moments of hesitation and even more sparks flying around, Ruben climbed inside the cockpit. It was a tight fit, but he managed. Once inside, Ruben saw why he couldn’t move the pilot. There was a seat belt crisscrossing his chest. A quick search led him to the lock and he stared at it. No way was he able to figure out how to disengage the foreign contraption, so he simply started pulling and tearing at it, with an occasional push and poke thrown in for good measure.

With a sudden click, the belt finally retracted and the figure collapsed forward. On instinct, Ruben reached out and gathered him in his arms. Or well her, what did he know? There were no signs to show who was hiding underneath the outfit. Based on size and, if he was honest, his own prejudice regarding pilots, it ought to be a guy, but he wasn’t sure. Could just as well be a tall woman.

Weren’t you supposed to leave the person inside while waiting for the EMT to not risk adding a possible spinal injury to their wounds? A new rain of sparks decided for him. Ruben needed to get them both out before something ignited and turned a bad situation into something much, much worse. But how? The unconscious person in his arms wasn’t going to help him.

Moving dead weight wasn’t easy, but little by little he managed to coax his cargo towards the edge of the craft. With one last push, they tumbled outside and fell to the ground. Not what he had planned, but at least they were out now. He quickly put the pilot down on his back and examined him.

It really was an elaborate costume. Even the guy’s hands were dyed that green-blue hue. He froze as his eyes reached the pilot’s eyebrows. Or where the eyebrows should have been. There was a gash just above the eye, and blood was seeping out in a slow but steady trickle. Problem was it was blue. Blue blood. But who went to a masquerade prepared with fake blood? An early Halloween bash? His brain kept nagging him about something and his eyes returned to those teal hands. There were only four digits. No matter how many times he counted, he still came up with four. To be honest, this did not look like a costume. Blinking hard, Ruben sat back on his haunches and took a deep breath. What the hell was going on here?

Just then, the guy coughed. The mundane sound almost made him giggle with relief. Coughing was normal, right? The pilot gradually opened his eyes, letting an unfocused gaze sweep over the clearing. His pale, shimmering blue eyes were fascinating, but something was off. That was when Ruben realized there were no whites in the guy’s eyes. Startled, he jerked backwards with a low squeal, landing on his ass in the wet grass. No matter what kind of contacts you could buy, there was no way they would cover the entire eye. Right?

Run! His body screamed run and his brain joined in. Ruben could hear himself panting and his heart beat double time in his chest. Was this how panic felt? Still, he didn’t move. Why didn’t he move? Because something compelled him to stay. This… being had crashed in his back yard. Maybe because it was hurt. The guy, or creature, groaned and reached for its head, gently touching his bleeding wound. In an odd way, the simple gesture seemed so human and it decided things. He had to help it--him. The question was how.

”Can you move? I can help you better at home. Clean you up some…”

Turning its eyes to him, the pilot blinked slowly. He seemed confused.

”I think you crashed.” Ruben pointed towards the wreckage. The creature turned its head, apparently too fast, since it let out a sound that closely resembled a moan and even grabbed its head again with its four-fingered hand. Again, Ruben’s brain said ’male’, so he decided to go with that. Until further notice.

”You could come to my house…” His offer was met with silence and a strange look. Those unnerving blue eyes took Ruben in and he felt as if he was being judged. The idea of possibly being found lacking didn’t sit well with him, but for all he knew the guy was simply in shock.

Without warning, the pilot sat up. The hasty movement had him instantly groaning and almost doubling over. But as soon as he had recovered, he pointed towards the wreck agitatedly. From his mouth spilled a stream of sounds, unlike anything Ruben had ever heard.

”I don’t understand.” Ruben held his hand up to stop the flow of words, but this only increased the intensity of it. He did all kinds of signs to get his point across, waving his hands, pointing to his ears and shaking his head. The pilot stopped talking abruptly and looked at him, with an expression telling Ruben it had finally dawned on the man he didn’t understand. After smacking himself a couple of times on his legs, the pilot took a deep breath. He pointed towards the ship and made sweeping motions through the air, as if smoothing out a quilt on top of a bed. Ruben watched him and tried to figure out what it meant. He noticed the man’s hands were making sort of a box shape in the air, then closing it after putting something inside.

“Wait, you want to hide it?” Ruben held up his hands in front of his face, as if intending to play peekaboo with the man in front of him. He felt silly, but couldn’t think of any other way to communicate.

With a new stream of sounds, slightly more animated, the guy drew more boxes in the air. Ruben couldn’t tell if this meant he had guessed right or not. How could this be so hard? He was a smart guy.

“Okay… So yes, you want to hide it?” Ruben nodded his head. “Or no, you don’t want to hide it?” Now, he was shaking his head instead.

The pilot fell silent and slowly started to nod, mimicking Ruben. For some reason, this little breakthrough felt so very good. Ruben couldn’t help smiling.

“But why? There’s no one around for miles. No one will steal it. Besides, it’s pretty much ruined. I think we should leave it and focus on getting you cleaned up. You probably need a doctor to check you over too…”

Ruben reached for his phone to see what time it was. Maybe Dr. Nolan would still be up. He’d know what to do. Before he could hit dial, the phone was knocked out of his hand. With a stream of noise, the guy was shaking his head and pointing at the wreck.

“Hey, be careful with that! It’s pretty expensive…” Ruben bent down and picked up his phone. It had gone dead, but didn’t look actually damaged. Quietly, he muttered a few choice words, while hoping a little tinkering at home would get the thing working again. The pilot continued to chatter and wave his hands around, making it clear he wanted something done about the wreck. Gesturing, the guy got up and started walking towards the ship on slightly unsteady feet. Hesitantly, Ruben followed him, prepared to catch him if he fell over. There were still sparks coming out of various part of the wreck, but since the pilot seemed comfortable, Ruben guessed it was okay.

After surveying the scene for a few moments, the pilot started pulling down branches from nearby trees and placing them on top of the wreck. He struggled with the sinewy branches and soon turned to look at Ruben expectantly.

“Okay, I’ll help you…” Reaching into his pocket, Ruben got out his knife. “Don’t really know why this is so important, but I’ll do it.”

They worked side by side, gradually covering the wreck until it was virtually invisible. As Ruben put down the last branch, a motion in his peripheral vision made him turn his head to the right. Just in time to see the guy drop to the ground as if someone had let all the air out of him.

“Hey… Hey!” Ruben tried to get some response from the figure on the ground, but the guy was out cold. He reached for his phone again, only to realize it was still dead. ‘Shit. SHIT! Think! I need to get him home. Now. Maybe I can do something with the first aid kit. Maybe…’

Ruben bent down and gathered the pilot in his arms. He was surprised at how light the man was, but decided this was a very good thing. His house wasn’t far, but walking through the woods carrying an unconscious guy wasn’t easy. A few times he stumbled and was close to falling over, but managed to right himself.

Coming up to the steps to his house, he was breathing hard and his thighs were burning. He thought he saw small puffs of misty breath now and then, so hopefully this meant the guy was still alive.

After he got home, he went straight to his guestroom and placed his unconscious cargo on the bed. Taking a step back, he assessed the scene in front of him. The pilot was lying very still, but he was breathing. Without a phone, Ruben couldn’t call for the doctor and he didn’t want to leave the guy all alone to go for help. The blood flow from the cut on his forehead had stopped. Maybe things weren’t so bad? Maybe it was just a shock? Either way, he had to do something.

Ruben walked up to the bed. He decided the man’s clothes had to go. They looked tight and restrictive and there could be bleeding underneath which needed to be stopped. For some reason, he felt it was necessary to get a closer look at his guest. Find out who he was. Or what he was… Ruben pushed the unsettling thought aside. He skimmed his hands carefully over the torso of the unmoving man, trying to find a zipper, buttons or any other means of keeping clothes on. Were there any other ways? Velcro? Hooks? He shook his head at his own musings. He was apparently getting tired. Then again, it wasn’t every day someone crashed in his backyard.

After a thorough search, he found a small clasp just below the armpit. Pulling on it, the uniform opened across the chest and down towards the left hip. Underneath was more greyish green-blue skin. No nipples. No bellybutton either. Ruben’s head was spinning. This couldn’t be happening! Pinching at the blue skin, he tried to lift it to see how the next layer could be removed but was unable to get a grip. All he felt was skin. Warm and unexpectedly soft skin.

Pushing the suit off the man’s shoulders and revealing more of the upper body, he let himself take a long look. At that bald, ridged head and the face that looked almost human if you didn’t let your eyes linger at the too flat nose or the oddly shaped lips, looking more like they belonged on a lion. Following the slender neck and letting his gaze drift over the chest. Still no nipples. Finally, he found himself staring at the hands. Four digits. Hesitantly, he sat down on the bed and took one of those hands in his. Looking up at the pilot’s face again, he went cold all over and then he flushed.

It couldn’t be and yet there it was. Or he. Or it. An alien. There was no other explanation and that wasn’t an explanation at all. They didn’t exist! So why was one lying on the bed in his guestroom, unconscious?

The sound of his doorbell had him practically jumping out of his skin. At first, he couldn’t move, but then he bounded down the stairs. If someone was here, maybe he could get some help. Help to figure this out. He threw the door open and only narrowly avoided hitting two men in crumpled suits standing on his porch. Strangers. More strangers. Cautiously, he drew the door a fraction closer to his chest.

“Yes?”

“Sorry to disturb you at this time of night, Sir, but we’re looking for a drone that we lost around here.” The man who spoke smiled at him. The other one stayed silent and serious. ‘Good cop, bad cop’ went through Ruben’s mind and he smiled back.

“Drone?”

“Yes, we work for the National Weather Service and lost one somewhere around here.” There was a flash of a badge, only too fast to actually see anything. “Did you happen to see anything unusual this evening?”

‘Well, apart from there being an alien creature unconscious in my guestroom I’ve seen nothing out of the ordinary’. Ruben almost giggled at the absurd thought. For some reason, he couldn’t get the words out.

“It’s not a difficult question. Did you or did you not see anything out of the ordinary?” Guy no 2 had apparently gotten tired of Ruben’s fish out of water routine. “About an hour ago?”

“Cain…” Smiley Guy gave his partner a look.

“No.” Ruben finally found his voice, but what came out wasn’t what he had expected. “I haven’t seen anything. Just vegged out in front of the TV tonight. Nothing exciting happening. Not that it ever does…” He gave a tentative laugh. Why didn’t he just ask these guys for help? They worked for the government, right? They’d know what to do, right? How come it just felt wrong?

The two guys silently observed him, making Ruben fidget nervously and flick his eyes from one guy to the other and back again. Suddenly, it felt imperative that they did not come inside, not find what he had upstairs.

“Okay…” Smiley Guy had stopped smiling, but he took a step backwards. Reaching out his hand, he held out a card for Ruben. “If you do remember seeing anything, anything, you give us a call.”

It wasn’t a question, nor a request. Ruben recognized an order when he heard one. He took the card and nodded. Slowly, the two men descended the steps and walked towards a car. Repeatedly, they looked over their shoulders at him, making him feel guilty even though he hadn’t done anything. It wasn’t illegal to hide ET in your guestroom, was it? Hmm, perhaps it was. He pulled the door shut with more force than necessary. The noise made him cringe, but then he looked out the front door window and watched the car pull away. He drew a shaky breath and released it. Those guys had rattled him more than he realized.

As he climbed the stairs again, he shook his head. ‘Weather service. Yeah right.’ Then he cursed himself. How had he not heard them pull up? Of course, being in the business of undressing a teal alien could be distracting.

‘Nothing to be done about this now. We’ll sort that out when he wakes up. If he wakes up… No, don’t think like that. Blue will be all right. What kind of name is that? Blue. Well, he is more the color of an unripen juniper berry. Juniperry. Maybe I should call him Perry.’ Ruben started to chuckle at his own inner monologue. ‘I really must be getting tired…’

As Ruben stepped into the guestroom, he froze. The bed was empty. No sign of Perry anywhere. Could he have left? A wave of disappointment went through him, but he shook it off. Maybe it was for the best. Especially if Perry was wanted by whatever agency those two really belonged to

A soft thump and a squeak from the closet startled him. Slowly, he went over and opened the doors. Squeezed in among winter coats and old skis, Perry stood rubbing his head. In his other hand, he held a ski boot. By the looks of it, the boot seemed to have fallen from the shelf above and hit his head.

“Not your night tonight, huh?” Ruben couldn’t help joking. Perry looked at him for a moment and then emitted a string of loud screeching noises. When the initial shock died down, Ruben realized the man was laughing. Even though it sounded like no laugh he had ever heard, it was contagious. Perhaps knowing it was laughter was enough? Either way, he joined in. Then it hit him. If the creature, or Perry, was laughing at his joke, then he must understand him.

“Wait! You can understand what I’m saying?” He had to ask for clarification.

Perry paused his screeching and nodded slowly.

“Wow, you can understand me!” Ruben paused to think. “But how?”

Perry sat back on his heels. After a few moments, he leaned down, showing Ruben the back of his head. At the base of his skull, Ruben could see a tiny line, like a scar. Perry sat back up and gestured to his ears. He repeated the gestures a couple of times.

“You mean you have something in your head? Like a sci-fi movie?” When Perry tilted his head as if saying ‘Really?’, Ruben wanted to slap himself. “Yeah okay, I get your point. So that thing makes you understand me? That’s so cool. I wish I had one of those. Would make things a lot easier…” Ruben shook his head almost in disbelief.

“This is so weird. Who are you? Where are you from? Why did you crash in my backyard? Why are you so… teal?” He hoped the last question wasn’t offensive, but he had to know. The moment Perry opened his mouth as if to answer, Ruben’s mistake became obvious. More of those strange, raspy noises came out. Holding up his hand, Ruben tried to stop the flow of words.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t understand a word you’re saying…”

The two looked at each other and Perry seemed to sigh, as if in frustration.

“Maybe we have to do this piece by piece.” Ruben felt almost afraid to ask, but he figured he had to get some sort of explanation. However improbable or potentially scary. Knowing would be better than not knowing. It had to be. Still, he decided to start with a fairly simple question.

“Who are you?” When there was no answer, Ruben placed a hand on his own chest. “I’m Ruben. Do you have a name?”

Perry took a step forward, and Ruben was kind of proud of himself for not retreating. Hesitantly, Perry placed a hand on Ruben’s chest. He made a soft trilling sound, as if he couldn’t get further than “Ru” in Ruben’s name.

“Yes, Ruben.” He was rewarded with more of those almost birdlike sounds. “What’s your name?”

Ruben flinched as Perry suddenly screeched loudly again. Beseechingly, Perry grabbed Ruben’s arm and put his hand on that green-blue chest. Once again, Ruben was amazed at how soft the skin felt. Not at all course as the skin of a dolphin or a shark, even though the color led his mind in that direction. As Perry repeated the screech, it dawned on Ruben that could be his name. When he tried to repeat it, it soon became clear he had no idea how to make the sounds required. His futile attempts left his throat feeling sore

“Listen, I don’t think I could ever pronounce that right. I happened to dub you Perry in my head, as in short for a juniper berry. Would it be okay if I’d call you that? I mean, it’s a real name. I promise!”

Perry paused for a moment and then he broke out in screeching laughter again. Ruben giggled along, feeling confused but relieved he hadn’t offended Perry.

“So Perry is okay?”

More laughter followed, combined with a nod. Now came the more difficult question. Or not difficult, but rather unsettling or scary. Was he ready to hear the answer? Probably not, but he would ask anyway.

“Where are you from?”

Perry’s intense blue eyes seemed to penetrate Ruben’s soul, looking deep inside of him. The silence between them made Ruben nervous. Especially when Perry didn’t move, as if locked in thought.

‘Didn’t he understand the question? Is he working out a story to tell me?’ The thoughts flickered quickly through Ruben’s mind.

His heart beat faster when Perry walked over to the window and turned his gaze up towards the night sky. He raised a hand and pointed up. Ruben swallowed.

“You mean space…?”

Turning around Perry nodded. The simple gesture made Ruben’s head spin. So, that was it. An alien. In his house. He couldn’t help gasping and shaking his head in disbelief. He wished the room would stop spinning. It had to stop spinning. Preferably soon.

A hand on his shoulder steadied him.

“Ruu…” The soft-spoken sound calmed him down. Perry was standing close to him, appearing worried. The concern in his eyes helped Ruben relax. Whoever, whatever Perry was, he didn’t strike Ruben as dangerous.

“You don’t exist…” The stupid statement slipped out of Ruben before he could stop it. Perry didn’t appear offended, but made a sound almost like a chuckle while doing his head tilting again.

“So this is real? Oh, God!” On instinct, Ruben reached and touched Perry’s chest. He let his fingers slowly drift down the soft, blue skin. It was warm to the touch and was still bare from when he had tried to examine his houseguest. The arms of the suit were tied around Perry’s waist. “This isn’t a costume. You are real.” The last was spoken more to himself than to Perry.

So many thoughts went through his head. What should he do? Should he call those government guys? This was an unusual occurrence, right? Immediately, he pushed the thought away and decided no. Something told him it would be a very bad idea to let them get their hands on Perry. Both for Perry and for him. He had seen the X-files. He knew the risks.

“Your ship! You wanted to hide it, right?” Perry nodded vehemently at his question. “We need to go out there tomorrow and get it here. Hide it better. They’ll come back. I just know it. We can’t let them find it.”

Ruben felt himself get overpowered by a yawn and it reminded him of how tired he was. Did aliens sleep? Did he dare sleep with Perry in his house? He didn’t have much choice, since the idea of turning Perry over to any authority made him feel sick.

“I’m really tired. Do you sleep? Or rest?” He pointed at the bed. Perry looked at it and nodded. Ruben decided he’d better show Perry at least his bedroom and the bathroom, just in case. Since his house was small, the tour was over pretty quickly.

“So here’s the bathroom.” After a brief hesitation, he demonstrated how to use faucet by running some water and the toilet by flushing. “You know, if you need to…pee or…” He made some vague gestures at his lower body and when he saw Perry nodding vigorously, he figured the message had been received.

“My bedroom is in here, if you need me during the night.” At this, Perry fixed him with his eyes and for no reason Ruben felt himself blush. “I mean, if you have to tell me something.” Adding that made him feel even more embarrassed. What was he doing? He had to get a grip. It must be the sleepiness talking. Resolutely, he ushered Perry back to the guestroom.

“We’ll sort more things out tomorrow. Like food. Or how to get you home…” They looked at each other again, until Ruben finally made it to the door.

“So, good night.”

“Ruu…”

The soft sound followed him out the door. He didn’t think he would get any sleep, but the moment he lay down in bed he was out.

When he woke up the next morning, he had the feeling something was off. There was something he had forgotten… Then he remembered Perry and he sat up straight in bed. Without even stopping to put his clothes on, he rushed over to the guestroom and barged in. Standing in the middle of the room in his boxerbriefs while a sleepy-eyed alien looked at him in what could only be interpreted as surprise, he suddenly remembered his manners. A bit too late though.

“Oh…I just thought I should… I mean…” Exhaling deeply, he started over. “I had to see if this was real. If you were real and not a weird dream. Not that you’re weird! I meant the dream… Anyway, good morning. And don’t worry. I don’t usually do this. Only when I have aliens staying over.”

“Ruu…” With that one word softly spoken with a hint of laughter behind it, Perry made him relax and Ruben could act like a normal person again. Feeling self-conscious, he wrapped himself in a blanket from the foot of the bed and sat down, careful to not get too close. No need to embarrass his guest more than he already had. Sitting up, Perry swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Perry stretched and reached as far as he could, reminding Ruben of a cat. A weirdly colored cat. Without hair. Now that he could see him in daylight, it became clear there was no hair on his body. Well, he still could be hairy on the strip of his body still covered by the sheet. If he had been human, that would be the part of his body where you’d see his…

“So, do you want to take a shower before breakfast?” He glanced over to the dirty and torn suit, as it lay slung over the back of a chair. “Maybe some clothes?” He tried to estimate Perry’s size. They appeared to be similar in build, not skinny, but not very bulky either. What was it his ex called it? A runner’s build? Yeah, Perry looked like he could run.

When there was no clear answer, Ruben simply got moving. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Perry was wearing some sort of underwear and made a mental note to include a pair or two.

“Here’s the shower.” Ruben held out his hand. “I don’t really know if you shower or not, but now you know where it is if you want to wash up.”

Perry reached in and turned on the water. Without taking his eyes off the running water and effectively ignoring Ruben, he let the water flow over his hand. He made a pleased sound and reached down towards his underwear, getting ready to step out of them. Ruben blushed and hurriedly made his way out of there.

“I’ll get you some clothes…” He stuttered slightly, which made him feel stupid. He could handle a naked guy in his shower. It wasn’t like he was a simpering maiden or anything. A dry spell didn’t erase all previous experience. Although, he was wondering if he was on the verge of becoming an honorary virgin. It had been a while…

When he had rustled up a pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt and some underwear, and left them in the guestroom, he went back to the bathroom. He stopped outside and listened. The water was still running, so he decided to leave Perry to it and prepare breakfast instead. Not knowing what his guest would like or if he even ate, Ruben decided to make brunch. Soon, he was busy frying some omelets and bacon. He also sliced up some bread and made a pot of coffee.

When he was done, he sat at the kitchen table waiting for Perry to appear. What was he doing up there that was taking so long? What if something had happened? A slip and fall? A feeling of unease came over him and he ran upstairs, taking the steps two at a time.

As he reached the landing, he could hear the shower still running. Hmm. Perry apparently enjoyed showering. A lot. Or had he indeed slipped? Ruben knocked on the door, but got no answer. Deciding he needed to make sure everything was fine, he entered. He could hardly see across the bathroom due to the amount of steam. However, there was movement in the shower, so he could relax. Nothing had happened. Glancing at his watch, he realized the shower had been running for a long time. At a very hot setting. That had to mean…

“Ehum, Perry? You might want to wrap it up. The hot water will probably…” A loud shriek followed by a blue figure jumping out of the shower let him know he had been right. “… run out.” Perry was making very indignant sounds and Ruben couldn’t help but giggle.

Then it hit him. Perry was naked. And wet. Before he could get a good look, Ruben forced himself to avert his eyes. Feeling stupid about intruding on his guest, he quickly grabbed a towel and held it out for his guest. To give Perry at least some privacy, he stubbornly kept his eyes down, noticing distractedly he had to get a new bathroom rug.

“Here. I put clothes in your room. Breakfast is ready downstairs, although I don’t really know what you eat.” After a brief inner debate whether to try and have discussion about eating habits while Perry was still naked, he opted for dealing with that later and exited the steamy room heading back downstairs.

As Ruben paced around the kitchen, he felt strangely nervous. Having an alien in your house was of course bound to cause a bit of inner turmoil. They needed to talk. Likely, Perry wouldn’t want to stay here. He’d want to return home. Question was how. Also, they needed to prevent anything bad happening to either of them. Ruben still had an uneasy feeling about the guys from last night. Was it only last night? It seemed much longer.

Perry entered the kitchen and Ruben had to bite his lip to keep from saying something stupid. Dressed in sweats, he was eerily normal looking. Except being teal.

“So, what would you like to eat? I made a couple of omelets and fried some bacon. There’s coffee and juice. I have bread too, if you’d rather have a sandwich…“ Ruben held out a plate for his guest as he hesitantly pointed at various food items. Eventually, he fell silent and tried to decipher the look on Perry’s face. Not easy when the one you’re reading is an alien. What did he know about alien facial expressions? He usually had trouble reading friends and neighbors. This was way out of his league.

After grabbing the plate, Perry approached the stove and leaned in over the pans, carefully eyeing the food. He then went on to smell the beverages. Even though he shied away from the coffee, he nodded to himself. He turned to Ruben and swept his hand over the entire spread.

“You want to try it all? Of course.” Ruben nodded.

After watching Perry pile food on his plate and sit down at the table, Ruben poured his guest some coffee and juice. Then he waited with anticipation. Carefully, Perry took a small bite out of the omelet. He scrunched what little nose he had, but didn’t appear to outright dislike it. Next came a piece of bacon. The moment the meat entered his mouth, Perry stood up. He made a weird sound, which Ruben first interpreted as great dislike. When Perry hurried over to the pan and grabbed more bacon, Ruben started laughing.

“Yeah, I really like bacon too…” Seeing the alien devour the bacon was comforting. As if it made him more understandable. Granted, he was still green-blue, hairless and somewhat weird looking, but anyone who liked bacon that much couldn’t be all bad, could he?

Perry took a tiny sip of the coffee, immediately followed by a snort. Ruben deduced coffee was not a favorite. The orange juice went down more easily, even if Perry seemed a bit hesitant. Thinking he should provide a way to stay hydrated without gagging, Ruben got him a glass of water. As Perry tasted the water, he gave Ruben a surprised look before he gulped down the entire glass and then held it out asking for more. Something about it was apparently unexpected. Once again, Ruben wished they could speak to each other. This was driving him crazy. Of course, he would have asked more important questions, but he still couldn’t help being intrigued by the alien’s reaction to plain water. The ultra-long shower had apparently not satisfied his curiosity.

After handing Perry a whole jug of water that the alien grabbed and held up to the light for inspection, Ruben served himself breakfast and sat down opposite his guest at the table. What were they supposed to do now? One thing was clear. Perry was in serious danger if anyone found out he was here. With the way that ship came crashing down, it would only be a matter of time before someone sent those passive-aggressive guys a video of it. Then things could turn ugly pretty quick. Like aggressive-aggressive.

“So, Perry, we need a plan.” Taking a break from studying his water, Perry got a thoughtful look on his face. Under the steady gaze of his shimmering, blue eyes, Ruben suddenly felt like a helpless child. What could he do? Nothing. He wasn’t a mechanical whiz, able to fix a spaceship with some gum and a toothpick. He didn’t have connections to any scientists who could help them gain access to a means of communication with deep space. He was a graphics designer for God’s sake, working from home, doing small jobs for whoever paid him. Unfortunately, that didn’t make him a computer guru.

Perry did some improvised sign language. His four digit hands waved gracefully through the air, drawing different pictures to convey what he wanted to say. To his surprise, Ruben found he could understand most of it. Just to be sure, he thought it best to repeat what Perry told him.

“We need to hide the ship first? Yes, I agree. Those guys who came by here last night will be back. I’m sure of it. And next time, I don’t think they’ll leave without a thorough search.” After more signing from Perry, Ruben scrunched up his eyebrows.

“But how are we supposed to get you home? We have no means of contacting anyone.”

Shaking his head, Perry intensified his gesturing. Holding his hand out as if it was in flight. So something about the ship… But the ship was a wreck, a worthless piece of torn metal. Perry kept making the sign meaning ship and pointing to his ear and then up, indicating the sky.

“Wait! Your ship will contact someone? Is that it?” Seeing Perry’s repeated nods, Ruben thought about this. “Well, I guess a distress signal or homing device is pretty useful when travelling through space…” The thought of actual space travel, going from galaxy to galaxy, sent shivers through Ruben.

“I wish you could tell me what it’s like to be out there. It must be amazing…”

“Ruu…” The soft sound was almost wistful. Combined with the look in Perry’s eyes, it was clear he also wished they could talk to each other.

“Yeah, I know. That conversation could be tricky to sign.” Ruben sipped his coffee. “It would be interesting to know what you’re doing here and why you crashed.”

Perry snorted and made their agreed sign for ship, showing first a smooth glide and then something hitting the ship, causing it to wobble.

“So you ran into something?” The mundane explanation had Ruben smiling, even though it felt slightly rude.

Shaking his head indignantly, Perry pointed to the ‘ship’, clearly blaming the vessel for what had happened.

“You know, a ship is only as good as its pilot…” Ruben dared a little joke, and gave an exaggerated smile to show Perry he wasn’t serious. After giving off a series of screeching noises, Perry ended with a trilling laugh and they wound up chuckling together. Or well, chuckling and bird calling.

Ruben cleared away breakfast and Perry went back to dunking his fingers in the water jug over and over, watching with fascination as droplets trickled downs his fingers and back into the jug.

With food and dishes out of the way, they headed out to retrieve the ship. Perry was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, which did make him look a bit odd. It was however decidedly better that than someone seeing him in all his teal glory. Ruben couldn’t shake the thought that there were government officials lurking about in the woods around his cabin.

He got his quad bike out and attached his trailer. Taking a step back, he wondered if this would even work. How much did a spaceship weigh? Even a small one like Perry’s must be rather heavy. He glanced at Perry while scratching his neck.

“How do you suggest we do this? I mean, that ship of yours must be about as heavy as a small car. Maybe we should just leave it after we hide it a bit more?”

Grunting, Perry shook his head vehemently. It was very clear leaving the ship out in the woods was not a good idea in his book. The alien went up to the trailer and pushed down on it a few times. It reminded Ruben of his father testing the tires of his car by kicking them. Therefore, he wasn’t completely reassured when Perry waved him on, apparently satisfied with their means of transport. Still, between the two of them Perry knew more about the handling of spaceships.

The trek through the forest took longer than expected. Not because the terrain was difficult to traverse, but because the moment they got in among the trees Perry insisted on walking so he could stop and stare at every single tree, moss, flower, ant or snail that crossed their path. Ruben followed him slowly with the quad bike. When they spotted a squirrel up ahead, Ruben for a moment thought he had lost Perry. The blue man took off at a surprising speed after the terrified animal, and he was moving fluidly over tree trunks and roots. Ruben found himself alone within seconds. He waited and waited, until he started to worry.

“Perry?” He called out, but at the same time didn’t want to be too loud. He kept thinking they weren’t alone out there and now was not the time to run into Smiley and friend. There was no answer. “Perry?!” This time he raised his voice, daring to be louder. When he still couldn’t hear or see any sign of his guest, he threw all caution to the wind and simply yelled as loud as he could. After a few minutes, stretching like hours in the middle of the deep green forest, he heard a crack. A twig being broken. He turned towards the sound and tried to see what had caused the noise. In the distance, he spotted something green-blue. That same unusual color as Perry’s skin. A moment later, Perry came into view. He had ripped his pants a little and it looked like he had taken a spill in some mud, but otherwise he seemed okay. A sense of relief flooded Ruben.

“Where did you go? You have to be careful in the woods. It’s really easy to lost out here.” Now it was Ruben’s turn to remind him of his father.

Perry began to gesture and was trying to explain. From the way he was drawing a bushy tail in the air, Ruben guessed he was talking about the squirrel.

“Yes, I know they are very cute, but you can’t just take off like that.”

Huffing his displeasure at being lectured, Perry waved them on. He appeared to want to close the subject and move forward. Ruben didn’t particularly want to keep channeling his dad, so he started the quad again and they continued to the crash site.

When they reached the ship, Ruben was impressed by their cover up work the night before. If you didn’t know there was something hidden beneath the pile of greenery, it was almost impossible to see anything other than branches and leaves. It made him breathe more easily since nobody else had found it and they weren’t in fact walking into an ambush. Perry rushed right up to the ship and cleared away the camouflage. In the light of day, the ship looked smaller than Ruben remembered and slightly scruffy. Of course, crashing would put a dent or two in any vehicle, but the inside was also a bit worn. With a few soda stains and some wrappers, this could be his sister’s ‘kiddie mobile’. Ruben snickered to himself, when he pictured Perry zipping through a space drive through and continuing his journey with fast food wrappers scattered around his feet.

“You flew across space in that…?” Ruben asked incredulously. In response, Perry went up to the ship and banged the ‘hood’ like a used-car salesman as if showing Ruben what a fine specimen this was. With a squeak, something fell off and landed on Perry’s toes. He yelped and hopped around in circles, while muttering what was probably as many dirty words as possible. Ruben had to bite his lower lip to not laugh at the poor guy’s misfortune. Perry didn’t seem too injured at least.

“So, do you think we can lift this thing?” Ruben tried to gauge the weight of the ship by pulling one side slightly upwards, but all he learned was that the ship was heavy. “This will never work with just the two of us…”

Before he could finish the sentence, Perry had gotten over his injury, and grabbed the side of the ship. With a groan, he shifted a few inches it towards the trailer. After jerking his head at Ruben, as if asking why he was just standing about for, Ruben snapped out of his astounded state and went to the other side ready to do his best to help. Inch by inch, they got the ship to slide on the moss over to the trailer. Once there, they stopped and looked at each other. Ruben folded down the rear hatch of the trailer and got it in position, at the nose of the ship. Perry gestured for him to get up on the trailer and indicated Ruben was in charge of the front. Standing on the trailer, Ruben began to feel hesitant about the whole operation. If the ship slid off, Perry could get seriously hurt. It would really suck if the alien survived falling to Earth only to die when pulling a stupid stunt like this.

“Listen, I think it’s far too heavy for us to…”

Before Ruben got any further, Perry bent down and pushed. On instinct, Ruben pulled on his end, even if he still felt the endeavor was futile. To his surprise, the ship started to slide upwards on the slight incline. As he pulled, he realized his assistance only made a marginal difference to the advance of the ship.

After a couple of minutes of intense activity, the ship landed on the trailer with a thud. The wheels of the trailer creaked, but Ruben hoped they would make it home before they gave out. He’d have to go very, very slow, though.

‘Just how strong is he…?’ The thought came from both awe and fear. If Perry could move a spaceship with his bare hands, what could he do to a human if he got angry enough? However, Perry had given him no indication of being violent. On the contrary, he seemed extremely good natured. It was impressive, though, how a being not larger than him could hold such strength.

When he could finally close the garage door behind them in the relative safety of his home, Ruben drew a deep breath of relief. During their annoyingly slow journey home, he had looked over his shoulder constantly, fearing they would have company at any moment. Getting caught out there with a green-blue guy and a spaceship was probably enough to get him locked away for a long time. Or worse…

Together, they disguised the ship under some old tarps. If you didn’t look too closely, it looked like a boat in winter storage. It wouldn’t hold for any closer scrutiny, though. He parked his car a little closer and put some other junk in front of the trailer. Other than digging a hole in the ground and putting the ship there, they couldn’t do much else. It would have to do. Maybe those government guys would lose interest if they couldn’t find any clues.

Coming into the house, Ruben looked at himself and Perry, both sweaty from their work.

“I think we’d better wash up again.” He headed upstairs. After entering the bathroom, he pulled off his sweater and began pulling down his pants. A movement behind him had him spinning around. There stood Perry and even though Ruben hastily turned away he noticed the man was naked. Blushing, Ruben snatched a towel from the rack and wrapped himself in it. He kept his eyes trained on his feet, fighting his growing curiosity.

“Okay, you can go first…” Stepping around the naked alien, he moved towards the door. Before he could exist the room, Perry put a hand on his arm. The feel of those warm and strong fingers on his skin made Ruben flinch and then shudder. How long had it been since he was naked with anyone? Naked and touched by anyone? Glancing down at his arm, he briefly reflected on how intriguing the contrast of teal against soft pink was.

“Ru…?” Perry gently pulled him towards the shower.

“You know, we don’t really shower with other people. I mean at least not anyone we aren’t living with.” Ruben felt silly trying to explain such a basic thing, but for some reason it was suddenly obvious that he was almost naked with the alien in the cramped bathroom. It would be so easy to let Perry join him in the shower. But he couldn’t, could he? It would be a very bad idea, right?

Perry tugged a little firmer and looked at him as if saying ‘Aren’t we?’.

“No, I meant someone we’re involved with. You know, in love…?” He felt himself blush again.

Would Perry know what that was? Did they even have a concept similar to love? At first, Perry looked at him without moving, his hand still gripping Ruben’s arm. Then he nodded slowly and released him, so Ruben figured he had made some sense. He slunk out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

As he stood outside, he heard the water being turned on and for some reason images of naked, green-blue skin with water cascading down over it filled his head. His arm still felt the firm touch of Perry’s hand. Exhaling, he pushed the weird thoughts out of his mind and made his way to the bedroom to wait his turn. If Perry’s previous shower was anything to go by, it would take a while. He did not want to go into the bathroom again to make sure there was hot water left for him. Not while Perry was in there. Naked. If he had to take a cold shower, it might just be what he needed. He had to get a grip.

After showering, Ruben decided to get started on lunch. They should discuss the question of Perry going home somehow, but they also had to eat. Perry joined him in the kitchen, investigating things Ruben had laid out to use for his spaghetti Bolognese. The spaghetti got a thorough investigation, and even though Ruben told him it needed to be cooked he insisted on crunching down several straws. His amused face had Ruben laughing.

As he started cooking, Perry kept circling him, very curious of what he was doing. He tried to explain the process of making meat sauce, even though he felt silly acting like one of those chefs on TV. As the beef was frying, he chopped up some onions and got the tomato sauce ready. As he was rooting around in his vegetable drawer, he heard a yelp behind him. Spinning around, he saw Perry with one of his fingers in his mouth and a pained expression on his face.

“What happened?”

Perry chattered and hissed, pointing at the frying pan and holding out his finger. Cursing his own neglect, Ruben sighed.

“It’s hot. I should have told you to be careful. Don’t you prepare food at home?”

Perry shook his head.

“Let me see.” Ruben reached out to Perry, who placed his hand in Ruben’s. Once again, the difference in their anatomy threw Ruben off for a few moments, but he examined the hurting digit. It wasn’t until then he realized he had no idea what to look for. There was an area that was a slightly darker shade of blue, but if this was a burn or if he was supposed to treat it was beyond Ruben. With an uncertain smile, he glanced at Perry only to find the man much closer than he expected. They almost knocked heads as he looked up. The bluest eyes met his, a trusting expression in them. Standing so close he could feel the man’s heat.

“I have no idea what I’m doing.” Ruben laughed nervously. “It looks fine, but then again I don’t know what to look for.” He held onto Perry’s hand, mostly because he didn’t know what else to do. He became acutely aware of the other man’s breathing, slow but heavy.

A knock on the door startled them both.

“You’d better hide. Quick!” Not many came to his door unannounced and he just knew that was trouble knocking. He turned off the stove and went to open the door.

Perry hesitated only for a moment and then headed off upstairs. Just as Ruben was leaving the kitchen, he heard a thud and some irritated muttering. Ruben shook his head and waited for the sounds to die down before opening the door. As expected it was Smiley, but with a different side order in the form of a very tall man, looking like he, too, could have moved that spaceship all by himself. Ruben just knew he wouldn’t get rid of them as easily today as the last time. He hoped Perry had the good sense to hide and stay hidden.

“So, Mr. Carter. We’re still searching for our missing weather drone and from talking to your neighbors we’ve concluded that it did in fact go down very close to your house.” Smiley, who appeared to need a new nickname today, paused as if letting Ruben mull this information over. When there was no response, the man continued with a definite edge to his voice. “Right here in your backyard, they told us. Big thing, crashing down and making a lot of noise. Are you quite sure you didn’t see anything?”

“I told you, I saw nothing.” Ruben’s mind was working overtime and he suddenly had an idea. Scratching the back of his neck, he did his best to act uncomfortable. “Listen, I didn’t say anything yesterday because frankly it’s embarrassing. I was kind of occupied… You know, it gets lonely out here and I haven’t been seeing anyone for a while…”

He didn’t have to try and fake a blush, since basically telling a virtual stranger he had been upstairs jerking off was enough to turn him bright red by the feel of it. The guy seemed to think this over and then he huffed.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I wasn’t looking out the window and had my headphones on. My laptop has these terrible speakers so I usually…” His modesty finally caught up with him and he found he couldn’t continue.

“Well, since it was so close, we’d like to go over your grounds and see if we can find any traces of that thing. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?” Smiley stared him down.

For a split second, Ruben thought to ask them for a search warrant, but realized that would tell them he knew they weren’t who they said they were. In turn, that would tell them he knew more than he let on. Tricky business, lying to the authorities. Not really his thing. He did his best to keep his face neutral and simply shook his head.

“No, that’s fine. Look all you like.” The instant the words were out of his mouth and he saw a slight smile curve the man’s lips again, Ruben regretted them. It was too late to take it back now. He had to trust they wouldn’t try to go into his garage and if so, that they didn’t look under all that junk. But why would they even suspect anything? He had given them a plausible answer, a painfully embarrassing answer. They had no reason to doubt him. Did they?

“Then we’ll do just that. Good day, Sir.” The two men stepped off his porch and went around the house. Ruben closed the door carefully. Then he rushed up the stairs, worried Perry might not think about staying out of sight from the back windows.

When he couldn’t find Perry in the guestroom or the bathroom, he breathed a sigh of relief. At least his room didn’t have windows facing the back. He hadn’t expected Perry to hide in his bedroom, but rushing off like that could make anyone simply duck into the first room they saw.

However, entering his own bedroom, he couldn’t see Perry there either. Confused, he looked around and even squatted down to look under the bed. A sound coming from the closet tipped him off and he went over to open the door. Inside, he saw Perry sitting on the floor looking at old photos he kept in a box on the top shelf. As he came in, Perry looked up. The alien pointed to the shelf, then at his head and finally gestured towards the scattered photos on the floor. Of course the slightly accident prone Perry had hit his head once more, this time making the box tip over. What else could be expected?

When Ruben saw the photo in Perry’s hands, he sighed. It had been taken on his last holiday with Simon. In the picture, Simon rested his head on Ruben’s shoulder, an intimate gesture that couldn’t be missed.

“Ruuu…?” Perry held the photo up to him and pointed to Simon. He was apparently curious.

“It’s Simon, my ex.” Sensing his statement wasn’t clearing things up for Perry, Ruben decided to simply lay it all out there. “As in ex-boyfriend. We broke up little over a year ago. No drama really, just a breakup.”

Perry gave him a penetrating stare followed by a hint of a pleased look in his eyes. Then he looked at the photo again. He mumbled something to himself, as he held the photo in a way that one of his fingers blocked out the image of Simon.

“Okay, so those guys are sniffing around outside, so you’d better lay low for a while longer.”

The confused look on Perry’s face made him rethink what he said.

“I mean, they are still out there looking for you and you better hide for a while longer. But you probably don’t have to stay in the closet.”

At that, Perry burst out laughing his screeching laughter. Ruben couldn’t figure out why this was so funny to Perry, so he opted for a noncommittal smile before turning to head downstairs again. As he glanced out the front door, he spotted the government guys’ car in his yard but there was no sign of the snooping pair. Closing the door, he retreated into the kitchen. Even if his nervousness was making him more queasy than hungry, he resumed his cooking. He had to eat and cooking was a normal, non-alien-hiding activity, right?

Suddenly the lights flickered and he heard a yelp from upstairs. Once again, he turned everything off and headed towards that sound as fast as he could. In the bathroom, he found Perry standing in front of the washing machine. He was cradling his hand again. There was a definite smell of burning plastic in the air and the floor was covered in water. Ruben took a closer look at the washing machine. A thin wisp of smoke was rising from the back. He reached over and unplugged the electricity. Inside, he noticed something that very much resembled his running shoes. They had been left to air out on the window sill in the bathroom after he had cleaned them a few days ago.

“Why are my shoes in there?” He looked at Perry, who had a decidedly guilty look on his face. “You put them in there? But why?”

Perry voiced some semi-upset trilling which didn’t tell him much. He couldn’t understand why the machine had broken down. It should be able to handle a pair of shoes. Looking at the back, things started to become clear. The water supply line had been ripped out, which would explain the flooded floor. Returning his attention to the front, he noticed the hatch wasn’t completely closed, but it couldn’t be opened either. It was as if…

“You turned it on, didn’t you? And then you tried to stop it by yanking the hatch open and ripping out the line?” An unhappy looking Perry nodded slowly and Ruben sighed. “But why my shoes…? Never mind. You could have just asked me about it. Now I need to get another one…”

“Ruuu…” The soft sound bore witness of Perry’s miserable state.

“No, it’s okay. I get that you’re curious. I’ll live, even if my machine doesn’t...” He gave Perry a pat on the shoulder. “I’ll finish lunch now, so it’ll be ready once those guys are out of here. Try not to burn the house down, okay…?”

When he got downstairs again, he glanced out the door once more. This time, the car was gone. He resisted the urge to rush outside to check on the spaceship. With his luck, they had probably put up CCTV all around his yard to document his actions.

As they sat down and began to eat, Ruben immediately regretted making spaghetti. A three-year-old had better table manners compared to Perry. The alien had to fight to get the pasta in his mouth. He practically attacked the noodles with his fork.

When the fork wasn’t enough, he used his dark-blue tongue to catch any strands trying to escape. Perry ate with a combination of amusement and irritation that was undeniably entertaining. At least as long as Ruben didn’t think about the spills and stains. Or that dark-blue tongue…

“You can eat like you normally would. You don’t have to imitate me. I won’t mind.” For a split second, he wondered if he would regret his words. Then he shook his head. How awful could it be? Perry used his mouth to ingest food and had hands, so the difference couldn’t be that great. Could it?

After a quick glance at Ruben, Perry bent over his food with a grunt as if preparing to finish his meal like a dog. Ruben felt his own mouth fall open in shock, but he didn’t know what to say. Before he could get any word out, Perry peeked up at Ruben. When the screeching, grating laugh erupted, Ruben knew he had been fooled.

“For crying out loud… Perry!” A furious blush crept slowly up his cheeks. “I thought you were serious!” He felt stupid about how easily he had been fooled, even if he realized it was meant as a joke. Perry simply screeched and then went back to using his fork again, getting most of the food in his mouth.

With the food gone and the worst spillage handled, they sat facing each other at the table. Ruben could hardly believe it hadn’t even been 24 hours since they met. His whole world had been turned upside down, which could explain why he felt Perry had been in his life for much longer.

“So, how are you going to get home? Those government guys will be back. They seemed convinced you’re here.” Ruben didn’t like the idea of Perry in their hands. At their mercy. “How long will it take for the ship’s signal to reach your home? And for someone to get here? I guess you live very far away.”

Perry thought for a moment and then performed a charade consisted of pointing outside and holding up a closed fist. Ruben stared at him.

“What? The ship is out there? But that doesn’t mean ‘ship’…”

Shaking his head, Perry pointed towards a lamp in the kitchen and then held up his fist again. When Ruben still didn’t understand, he grabbed a cherry tomato left over from lunch and had it circle his fist. Ruben thought it reminded him of…

“The sun!” Excited, Ruben spoke a little too loudly, only to get confused again. “You can’t live on the sun… Can you?”

Huffing, Perry shook his head. He lowered and raised his hand twice.

“The sun rises and sets. Yes, I know. But what does that have to do with…” Then it all made sense again. “Oh, you mean days?” Nodding, Perry held up two fingers. “So two days. Then you can go home?”

Again, Perry nodded, appearing pleased with his little performance. Ruben felt relief, but also a feeling of loss. Like when you encounter a wild animal that for some reason accepts you and lets you closer than ever. You know you’ll have to let it go, but some part of you still doesn’t want to. Perry wasn’t a wild animal, but he was unlike anything or anyone Ruben had ever met. He wished they could speak to each other, since he had so many things he wanted to ask. Charades only got them so far, though.

“You know, I never believed there was life in space. Now, I’m beginning to think some people actually do know, but won’t tell the rest of us. Are your people in contact with any government on Earth?”

Perry shook his head.

“Then why are you here?”

Perry got up and started going around the kitchen, scrutinizing every item he could find. He opened the cupboards and even peered down the drain. Ruben studied him and tried hard to guess what he was telling him now.

“Of course, you explore. So why are you alone? That ship of yours can’t be fit for any longer journeys. At least not comfortable ones.”

By increasingly irritated gestures and using various objects in the kitchen, Perry managed to explain how he had been on a short trip but ended up lost through some sort of error. Ruben couldn’t understand exactly what had gone wrong, but Perry wasn’t meant to end up on Earth. Something Perry’s indignant facial expression made very clear that in his mind it wasn’t his fault at all. A little lip biting was required to stop an inappropriate smile from escaping.

“Well, whatever happened, you can stay here until help arrives. I’ll do my best to hide you.”

“Ruu…” Perry gently took his hands between his own. Now that Ruben had gotten used to how they looked, he no longer flinched at the touch. Instead, he could focus on the feel of Perry’s slightly warmer skin against his. They remained holding hands for so long Ruben expected them to get uncomfortable. It didn’t happen. For some reason, he could let Perry stand there and touch him. A feeling of them against the world. Literally. An experience like this was bound to build instant trust.

“So, I need to do some work. Maybe you’d like to watch a movie? Or read a book? Do you even have books?” When Perry just looked at him, Ruben motioned for him to follow and they went to his living room. Pulling out some DVDs, Ruben went through them with the intent of choosing a harmless comedy for Perry. When his eyes fell on his compilation of classic Star Trek, he started laughing.

“Okay, this is a really old show. How we pictured life on a spaceship would be. Maybe you’ll find it funny.” He turned it on and Perry seemed immediately taken by the action on the TV screen. Ruben put on his noise cancelling headphones and sat down at his laptop with his back to Perry. That way he could get some work done, while not letting Perry be all alone.

He lost himself in his work for a while. A thud, loud enough for his desk to shake, made him turn around. On the floor below his book case, Perry lay in a heap of books scattered around him. The alien was rubbing his head again. Ruben rushed over to him and tried to assess the damage. Like before he couldn’t tell, but Perry was at least conscious. He seemed very annoyed at the books and babbled loudly while pushing them away so he could get up.

“What did you do now? You know, I’m beginning to think you ending up here wasn’t so much an accident. It might very well have been you…”

This got Perry squeaking and screeching even louder. Irritated, he kicked one of the books, an encyclopedia. Perhaps that was the offending book. It would certainly hurt if it fell on someone’s head. The book opened at an article about ancient Egypt, with an illustration about the building of the pyramids. With a surprised squawk, Perry bent over to look at the illustration. He reached out and traced the outline of the pyramid almost as if longing for someone or something. Ruben squatted down beside him.

“The pyramids in Egypt. Yeah, those are impressive. You wouldn’t believe the stories about how they were built. Some actually claim aliens had something to do with it!” Ruben laughed, but Perry remained silent.

Without making a sound, Perry reached down and grabbed the hem of his t-shirt. He pulled the garment over his head, exposing his teal chest. Ruben suddenly felt uncomfortable being so close to his seminude guest, but told himself he was being ridiculous. He could handle a naked torso. It was just that this particular naked torso had such a weird effect on him. All that smooth, blue skin, stretched over sinewy muscles.

Then he realized Perry was pointing at something, his left pectoral. Ruben forgot about his hitching breath and leaned in. A tattoo. How had he not seen that before? It looked strangely similar to…

“A pyramid? It’s a fucking pyramid!” He looked at Perry who nodded and once again let his fingers drift over the page in the open book on the floor. “So it’s not a hoax? You guys were here all those years ago? Wow…”

Perry started flipping over more pages of the encyclopedia and proceeded to indicate various other ancient constructions that as Ruben understood it had been built by or at least with the assistance of Perry’s people. There were several monuments in South America and Asia. On a whim, Ruben snatched the book from Perry and opened the book to show him Stonehenge. Perry looked at it and snorted. Apparently, that was not one of their monuments.

“But why? Why would you travel through space and end up here building things like that? And then simply leave?” It didn’t make sense to Ruben.

Cupping his hands as if holding something precious, Perry held them out to Ruben. It looked like Perry was presenting something to him. Something that meant a lot to him. Glancing at Perry’s markings, Ruben deduced the pyramids were sacred in some way to Perry and his people. And they had wanted the humans to share them.

“So they were a gift?” When Perry nodded, Ruben went on. “But why didn’t you come back? Why not stay in contact?”

After more improvised signing, where Perry used items from Ruben’s desk such as erasers and pens to symbolize their home planets and spaceships, Ruben thought he could finally piece it together.

“So, it’s too far away for regular contact and we were so frightened of you back then you didn’t want to make yourselves known again?” Mulling this over, Ruben realized Perry was probably right. “I guess things could spiral out of hand pretty quickly. Just look at those two guys out there searching for you. They seem very intent on finding you. Unfortunately, I get the feeling they don’t want to have a friendly chat.”

They shared another silent moment, while Ruben tried to digest the fact that they weren’t alone in space and never had been. Also that some people already knew this, but didn’t want the rest of them to know. A huge secret. A secret meant to stay secret. His eyes fell once more on Perry’s markings.

“They are really beautiful. Look like a tattoo.” He let his fingers trace the outline of the triangular shape on Perry’s pectoral. Only when his eyes flicked up again to meet Perry’s iridescent ones did he realize what he was doing. The soft, warm skin felt good under his fingertips, though. So good. He swallowed. What had just happened? As he started to retract his hand, Perry put his own on top of it and gently pushed until his palm touched the blue-green skin. Perry held it steady.

For some reason, Ruben couldn’t move – didn’t want to move. Sitting close, very close to Perry was suddenly the one thing he desired. He found himself wondering what it would feel like to kiss those alien lips. Did he even kiss or would Perry think Ruben was trying to bite him?

Wait, a kiss? Was he crazy and actually considering kissing an alien? And whom he had known for barely 24 hours? Still, the room was filled with that particular electricity and he was almost certain Perry was feeling it too. They were poised on the brink of something and against all logic, Ruben wanted to fall. Just let it happen.

“You feel it too, don’t you?” His whispered words were met with another nod. Then Perry reached for him and placed his free hand against Ruben’s temple with two fingers touching his temple and two resting at the nape of his neck. The electricity kicked up a notch or ten, flowing through Ruben’s body and collecting at the base of his spine. The desire to kiss grew until he simply couldn’t hold back anymore and leaned towards Perry.

A sharp knock on the front door broke the spell and had them pulling apart quickly like they were doing something wrong. Ruben panted and his heart thundered as if he was on the verge of a heart attack. He had to get downstairs before whoever it was let themselves inside, but he didn’t want to move. He wanted to stay in that field of electricity. Another knock had him scrambling to get up to answer the door. Before exiting the room, he glanced back at Perry. The alien’s eyes appeared to have darkened and there was a new expression in them. Lust? Or was Ruben only seeing what he wanted to see?

After opening the door, he sobered up in no time. Outside were not only Smiley and his first sidekick, but also a whole crew of uniformed police. Not good.

“So, we have reason to believe the drone is hidden somewhere on your property.” Before Ruben could protest, Smiley went on. “Here’s a warrant to search the premises.”

“But I haven’t seen the damn thing! All this fuss over a weather drone! You’d think the police would have more important things to do!” The words were out before he could stop them and he regretted them immediately. Only douchebags used that complaint. Douchebags or the guilty.

“That damn thing is very expensive and furthermore on the non-export list. Any attempts to sell it outside of this country will result in severe consequences. We will find it, Mr. Carter.” Smiley’s statement was very clearly a threat. Ruben tried to think fast. All he wanted was to tell them to fuck off, but they had a warrant. Trying to delay their search might increase their interest. But was the ship hidden well enough? Would they even know that it was what they were looking for? It didn’t look like a spaceship. More like a bobsleigh. Perhaps they would miss it.

“I keep telling you, it’s not here. I don’t know how many times I have to repeat myself. So go ahead! Knock yourselves out.”

“Excellent. Then I and officer Cain will start in here.”

This wasn’t something Ruben had expected. Inside? As in where Perry was? Did the guestroom look okay? He grew cold all over remembering Perry’s uniform, discarded somewhere in the bathroom. Would Perry think to hide that too? Would he think to hide himself?

“Sure, if you must.” He let them in and then spoke in a much louder voice than necessary. “You’re wasting your time, searching my house like this.”

He got no response as the two officials started their search. When they came into the kitchen, he saw the dishes from lunch in the drainer. Two plates, two glasses, two sets of cutlery. Ruben’s heart picked right up again. It felt as if the drainer was yelling ‘There’s someone else in the house!’ Then he figured they could just as well chalk it up to him only doing dishes every other day. They couldn’t know his slightly obsessive attitude towards dirty dishes, could they? Without a word, the two men grunted and headed for the stairs. Ruben didn’t know proper protocol when having your house searched for UFOs or aliens, but he followed closely behind. Not that he would be able to do much if things got out of hand. He didn’t know how to fight and he was convinced they were armed.

As they approached the guestroom, Ruben was holding his breath. They opened the door and went in. The lack of commotion told Ruben that Perry hadn’t been simply lying on the bed waiting for them. The bed was unmade. Would that be a sloppy mistake giving Perry away?

“This your room?” Cain didn’t waste any unnecessary words apparently.

“No, it’s my guestroom.” No point in denying what they would only find out soon anyway.

“So, who’s sleeping here?”

“Friends, when they stay over.” An idiotic answer, but the question had deserved it.

“I mean now. Who sleeps here now?”

Ruben was on the verge of replying ‘No one’, but decided wisecracks were better to be avoided.

“I had a friend staying over a few weeks ago. Haven’t gotten around to clean in here since. I have to wash the sheets and my machine is broken.” Suddenly, Perry’s little stunt came in very handy. If they checked, they would see it was in fact broken.

After another grunt, Smiley and Cain headed towards the bathroom. To his delight, they did take note of the broken machine. His heart just about stopped when Smiley turned to him, holding Perry’s uniform out to him. In an instant, his mouth went all dry.

“What’s this?” The question was asked in passing, almost innocently. It dawned on Ruben that they didn’t want to be too curious about possible alien objects, since that could mean tipping an innocent guy off to the fact that the government knew there were aliens about. He could still be just another citizen. Not someone who was harboring aliens and their spaceships.

“Ehum… I’m into cosplay. You know, performing as your favorite character from a show or comic…” Ruben’s mind was going as fast as it could. “There was a thing a while back. Nothing extravagant. Just for fun. I went as Captain Picard.”

“This isn’t his uniform.” Cain eyed him closely. Damn, was that guy a Trekkie? What were the odds?

“It’s my interpretation. Not a mere copy…” As far as he knew, that was not how you did cosplay, but maybe Cain didn’t know.

“Why is it torn?” Observing eyes seemed to evaluate his every move, every breath.

“Well, I got into a little fight. One of the Klingons took things way too far on stage. Ridiculous really…” He got another grunt and the uniform was dropped in the laundry basket again. Their little party of three moved over to his bedroom, but nothing grabbed their attention including the closet. Nor did they find anything in his office. Ruben was wondering where exactly Perry was hiding. Then it hit him that he had to be in the tiny and cramped attic. The ladder leading up there was in his bedroom closet. He had to force himself to not look up, so he didn’t give them any ideas.

They looked at the books on the floor, and Smiley raised his eyebrows in question.

“I’m doing some research and accidentally pulled out a few more books than I needed.” Even to Ruben, that sounded like a lame excuse. He decided going into greater detail would only emphasize the holes in his story, so he kept quiet. The agents regarded him in silence. They knew. Somehow, they knew. Ruben was sure of it. Doing his best to tamp down his spiking nervousness by chewing on his lower lip, he remained silent. A standoff. Neither party seemed to know what to do next. Finally, Smiley had had enough.

“Okay, seems there’s nothing in the house. Let’s go see if the others have found anything.”

As Ruben watched them heading for the front door, he struggled not to ask them what they were looking for. He just knew they were after an alien. Had Perry somehow made contact with them while hurtling to the ground? He figured all they could do was to keep a low profile and stay hidden for another day or so. If indeed Perry was right and the rescue party only needed two days to get here.

He followed both men out on the porch and studied the swarm of officers buzzing around in his yard. An anxious glance at the garage told him the doors were open. Shit. Not surprising, since they had searched his house. Would they see the ship? Would they understand what that heap of crumpled metal was? It didn’t look like a ‘spaceship’, at least not like the ones you see in the movies. Then again, if these guys were looking for signs of alien visitors they would have been told to keep an open mind. How else would they find what they were looking for when they had no idea what it was?

Just to have something to do, he went upstairs to put the books back on their shelves. While he worked, he listened intently to any signs that they had been discovered and had to make a run for it. Not that he knew where they would run, if it came to that.

“Clear out!” The shouted order from the outside had him jumping a few inches in the air. The spike in fear was followed by a sense of relief. They were safe, at least for now. He hid in the shadows behind the curtains and watched as Smiley and Cain oversaw everyone get in their cars and drive away.

“Finally.” He put down the books he was holding and quickly made his way to the closet in his bedroom. When he reached up for the slightly hidden handle to open the hatch, it wouldn’t budge. He pulled harder but to no avail. “Son of a b…”

Ruben didn’t get any further as a sound from the upstairs hall stopped him short. As fast as he could, he grabbed a couple of random jackets and turned, only to walk right into Smiley. Who, for the first time that day, lived up to his name and smiled, albeit not a very pleasant one. Ruben shivered as he silently waited for the man to make the first move. Keep calm. Keep quiet, he schooled himself.

After a staring contest that would have put most cats to shame, Smiley finally spoke up.

“So, we’ll be heading out now. We will probably be back for a more thorough search tomorrow, when our tracking equipment gets here.” He gave the bundle clutched tight in Ruben’s arms a once over. “Looking for something?”

“Just getting some warmer coats. Getting a bit chilly outside, isn’t it?” Ruben did his best to calmly hold the agent’s gaze. Had he been set up? Was this a trap?

“Warmer coats? Just now?” Smiley flicked his eyes to behind Ruben’s back, over his left shoulder. A droplet of sweat trickled down Ruben’s spine, making his shivers more intense.

He knows. Fuckin’ hell, he knows…

Then, as if nothing had happened, the tension was gone. Smiley nodded curtly and once more left the house, leaving Ruben standing in the entrance of his closet clasping the coats tightly to his chest.

This time, Ruben waited until he heard the car pull away from the house before he made another attempt at finding Perry’s hiding place. He dropped the clothes on the floor, reached for the handle and pulled hard. This time, the hatch opened with a violent swing and Perry came tumbling down, crashing into Ruben. He ended up lying on top of his host, causing them both to yelp and then groan. Ruben held his head and tried to get the room to stop spinning through deep breaths. He kept his eyes pinched tight, hoping it would help.

Ruben could feel gentle fingers examining his head as Perry voiced his concern through babbling. As Ruben opened an eye, he could see Perry’s fingers were covered in red. He was bleeding and Perry didn’t like that at all.

“It’s okay. It’s just my eyebrow. They bleed like crazy.” Ruben was suddenly very aware of Perry’s body against his own and at that moment Perry’s focus shifted, meeting his eyes. Something familiar but unsettling flared between them. Want. Need. Desire. Lust.

As if both realized their position at the same time, they broke eye contact and scrambled to get up. Ruben went into the bathroom and got some supplies from his first aid kit. Perry snatched them from his hand and directed Ruben to sit on the toilet. It felt so natural, the way those blue fingers cleaned the wound and taped him up. Their closeness sparked another burst of those weird feelings. Ruben caught himself staring at Perry’s hands, his arms, his face. He needed a diversion and quick.

“So, you held the hatch to the attic closed? You knew they were coming back?” When Perry nodded, Ruben stared at him. “But how? How could you know?”

Perry touched Ruben’s ear, sending unexpected shivers down his spine.

“You heard him? Wow… That’s some hearing…”

Ruben felt himself slowly relax. The agents were gone for now. For how long was another question.

His stomach grumbled, making Perry giggle in his unique screeching way. Ruben blushed and glanced at his watch. It was close to 8 pm and they had yet to have dinner. No wonder he was hungry. Getting out of the strange intimacy of the bathroom to cook would be a bonus.

“Come on, I need some food. Don’t know about you, but I guess I’ll find out.”

To get dinner ready quickly, Ruben decided to keep it simple and heat some soup. The silence between them as they ate wasn’t awkward but rather companionable. Still, Ruben would have liked to be able to get to know Perry better. Sign language at their level simply didn’t cut it. He found himself staring at the man in front of him, as Perry once again struggled to get the food in his mouth, this time with the help of his spoon. Clearly not the way they usually did it.

As if he could sense Ruben gazing at him, Perry looked up.

“I wish we could talk. Really get to know each other.” Ruben sighed.

Perry trilled softly, sounding almost melancholic. A four-fingered hand reached out and gently touched Ruben’s cheek. Ruben covered Perry’s hand with his own.

Both remained still, their gazes locked. Perry trilled again. It sounded like a caress. The air between them became difficult to inhale, making Ruben draw deeper and deeper breaths. They sat so very still, as if the slightest movement would ruin this moment. Or escalate it.

“I can’t believe this is really happening.”

Perry let his hand slide down Ruben’s arm to take his hand, trilling softly.

“This is crazy… We met only a day ago…” Ruben broke away from Perry. Shuffling backwards, he tried to get his whirling mind under control but with no such luck. Perry followed him and grabbed his arms, steadying him. So close, so very close. Ruben had to fight his instinct to lick the man’s neck, to tear off his shirt and…

And what? What could they possibly do? Were they even compatible? Just the fact that he had to ask himself that question showed him what a monumentally bad idea this would be. This was not a conversation he wanted to conduct through their crappy version of signing. He opened his mouth to tell Perry what a bad idea this was when Perry closed the distance between them and nuzzled his face against Ruben’s neck. After gasping in surprise, Ruben felt himself relaxing into the touch. He wrapped his arms around the snuggling man and just let it happen. Let himself enjoy the closeness of another. What did it matter that Perry was green-blue? Or an alien? Okay, it might be of some importance, but it was only a hug. Right? When it hit him he had no clue as to what Perry was actually doing, he tensed. Perry lifted his head and looked at him.

“I’m don’t think we should be doing this.” The hurt look on Perry’s face had Ruben cringing. “I mean we don’t even know each other. I don’t do things like this. Not this fast…”

“Ru…”

Those strange fingers ghosted over his cheek. Making him shiver but also making it obvious why this could never work.

“I know. It’s just…” Ruben forced himself to meet Perry’s eyes. “You’re going home soon. You can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous. Besides, we can’t even talk to each other. How would we…”

Perry’s shimmering eyes shut him up. They stared at each other and before Ruben could stop himself he leaned in, placing his lips on Perry’s. The moment their mouths met, Ruben felt exhilarated. Until he was stumbling backwards. When his back hit the wall, he looked at Perry in surprise. The alien had shoved him. Hard. He was babbling, sounding both angry and upset.

Ruben held up his hands to stop the flow of sounds. “That was a kiss. We kiss. Humans kiss. It’s a sign of affection. Sometimes love…”

At that word, Perry fell silent and regarded Ruben with a new intensity in his eyes.

“Mostly, it’s a sign of affection in a broader sense.”

The intensity dimmed ever so slightly and Ruben felt like an ass.

“See, this is why we shouldn’t try this. We would only mess it up, not being able to understand each other.” He sighed.

Their eyes met. Ruben didn’t know what to do, feeling conflicted and confused. Part of him wanted to run while another part wanted something completely different.

Perry grunted and reached out for him, placing his fingers in the same pattern as before. Temple and neck. Standing close together, the urge to kiss came over Ruben again and this time he had a feeling he wouldn’t be pushed away.

“God, this is crazy…” Still, he leaned in again, unable to stop himself. Feeling actually weak in the knees, he supported himself against Perry’s chest. When their lips met, there was a moment when the differences in their anatomies made Ruben pause. Then Perry tightened his hold on Ruben’s head, pushed back against him, and Ruben was overwhelmed by the reaction of his body. Forget an explosion – this was a complete meltdown. A supernova in his chest. All he could think was More! Now!

Then his senses came back. He twisted out of Perry’s hold on him and panted heavily as he walked over to the sink to get some water. Anything to occupy his hands. When he noticed them shaking badly, he quickly put the glass down. A gentle hand on his shoulder made him turn around.

“Listen, I can’t do this. I want to. God knows I want to, but I can’t. It’s too much. I’m scared.”

Nodding, Perry took his hand and led him from the kitchen upstairs to his bedroom. As they stood there, Ruben was at a loss for what to do. Perry trilled and pointed to the bed. Just as Ruben was about to protest again, Perry shook his head and closed his eyes signing ‘sleep’.

“You want to sleep together? I mean only sleep?” Ruben inwardly cursed how he sounded like a prissy old lady.

Perry was already pulling off his shirt, but stopped and screeched a laugh. Then he slid in bed and patted the space beside him. Seeing Perry’s naked torso spread out in his bed, so different yet so beautiful, made Ruben almost change his mind. Almost.

Feeling the man’s warm body next to his was another test of his control. He passed but barely. Somehow, he couldn’t help but wish he would fail. ‘Be strong…’ he silently told himself. They cuddled together a bit awkwardly, without any of the usual familiarity of previous intimacy. Ruben eventually relaxed in those blue arms, wrapping his own around the blue softness of the alien’s chest. Despite the thoughts whirling around in his head, he was asleep in moments.

Ruben woke up to a foreign sound. Trying to get his eyes open to see what was going on, he first thought Perry had gotten out of bed for some reason, but there was still a softly snoring body next to him. A bright flash of light had him sitting up straight and shouting from surprise.

Three figures stood at the foot of the bed, blinding him with a flashlight. He could barely make out their contours. It took Ruben a few moments to realize the men weren’t ordinary burglars but rather reminded him of Perry. They were wearing the same kind of uniform as Perry had, including some protective headgear. The men regarded the pair in silence. Feeling Perry cuddle against him, he could guess what they suspected.

“Perry…?” He shook the bare shoulder sticking up from the comforter. A sleepy eye opened to look at him in confusion. “We have company.”

Perry bolted upright and stared at the trio at the end of the bed. When they all recognized each other, the room erupted in chirping chatter, mixed with some of those trilling sounds. The four aliens touched each other’s temples and hands in what appeared to be a very friendly greeting. Ruben came to the conclusion they were all good friends, which made sense since the three had traveled across galaxies to fetch Perry.

Fetch Perry… The thought stung. This was it. He was leaving. Going home. Ruben knew that it was the only safe choice for Perry and that it was probably in the nick of time too. Those government guys would be back, in all likelihood already tomorrow. His house wasn’t safe. Perry wasn’t safe. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling of sadness that welled up inside him. They would have to say goodbye before they even got a chance to get to know each another.

He pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, not as comfortable as Perry with being practically naked in the company of others. Standing by the bed, he observed the aliens, who seemed to have moved from greetings to a more serious discussion. Perry was pointing outside, which probably meant he was explaining the whereabouts of his ship. As they turned to leave, Perry stopped and looked at him. Ruben waved at him, wondering if this was goodbye. Without a word, Perry reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him along. He followed them out to the garage and watched as the four of them carried the ship outside. Two of the visitors left after a brief discussion and headed across the field. Perry turned back to him and from the look on his face Ruben knew this was goodbye.

“Ru…”

Perry’s blue eyes shimmered and Ruben wanted to think it was due to unshed tears. Maybe because it would make his own tearing up feel less embarrassing. He had to get a grip. They had met only a day ago, so there was no reason for such drama. Only there was. They had experienced something he would never be able to share with anyone else and he knew he would miss Perry more than reasonable.

“I guess this is goodbye. I’ll miss you.” Ruben sighed. “I really wish we had more time.”

“Ru…” Perry touched his temples with the tips of his fingers. Before he chickened out, Ruben pressed his lips against Perry’s and stole a quick kiss. The burning in the pit of his stomach was back instantly. A screeching laugh behind them reminded him they weren’t alone, so he took a step back. Not as far as to back away from Perry’s touch, though. Just a few more moments.

A whirring sound coming from the forest made them both turn. Ruben almost couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a ship closing in on them and finally coming to hover just at the edge of his yard. It looked almost like Perry’s ship, only significantly larger, and moved with unbelievable smoothness. A large hatch opened at the bottom and the two others joined them again. Together, the four aliens managed to get Perry’s smaller ship inside, using a sort of hover lift to shift it.

They were ready to leave. Ruben waved goodbye and got a wave in return from Perry. Then he shouted something and hurried inside. Ruben was disappointed that he got no further goodbye, but then Perry came back out, holding out an object resembling a tablet. Ruben took it and looked at it hesitantly.

“What’s this?” Turning the thing over in his hands, Ruben tried to figure out what it was for.

Perry made some hurried signs in the air, but they made no sense to Ruben.

“I don’t understand. What are you trying to tell me?”

The other aliens yelled at Perry. It was obviously time to leave and they seemed to be in a hurry. Perry looked at them over his shoulder and yelled back, appearing frustrated. Then he repeated the signs. When Ruben shook his head again, Perry quickly thrust the tablet against his chest as if telling him to keep it. Then he kissed him once more. Before Ruben could say another word, Perry turned and boarded the ship. In a blink of an eye, the hatch was closed and the ship was gone with only a slight whirr in its wake. If he hadn’t been holding Perry’s parting gift, Ruben would almost have thought it had been a dream.

Dragging his feet, Ruben went back inside. Then he saw the broken washing machine. It hadn’t been a dream. Perry had been here. And now he was gone. Ruben went to bed. He felt exhausted, probably due to the emotional drain of saying goodbye to Perry. Not sure what to do with it, he put the parting gift on his nightstand.

Some hours later, he woke to a chinking sound he couldn’t place. Confused, he looked around and noticed Perry’s gift was blinking. Carefully, he picked it up and after looking it over for a button of some kind without finding one, he went with his first instinct and simply tapped the front. The screen came alive and his jaw dropped.

‘Hello. I hope I didn’t wake you too early. I just couldn’t wait any longer.’ Ruben stared at the text appearing across the screen. ‘It’s Perry, by the way. If you want to answer just talk. Your words will be changed to text.’

Ruben cleared his throat and asked the first question that came to mind. ‘Hi. What’s your name?’

‘Czrehsclo. Hmm… So funny to see my name like that. Not how I would have written it.’

‘Not sure it’s helping me either…’ Ruben chuckled, in part due to his lame joke, but mostly because of his relief that Perry wasn’t gone. He was right there, and now they could talk to each other. Actually talk.

‘Maybe we should just stick to Perry? So, Ruben… What are your plans for the day…?’

Ruben smiled. This wasn’t the end. This was the beginning.