2: The Last Xarthean
I wake up slowly, not wanting to crawl out of bed just yet but also not being able to sleep another second. There is nothing but silence, much like it's been every morning since I moved into my late grandmother's house, so that makes it even harder to get up. I don't know what it is, but something urges me out of bed and it's not just my aching back. I feel like there's something important I have to do today, but I can't remember what. Reluctantly, I climb out from between the sheets and get to work making my bed. I'm not a neat freak, in fact, I am so far from it I'm almost grossly dirty, but I can't stand sleeping in a bed that hasn't been made. Call me crazy, and join the rest of the people who do the same, but I just can't.
Most people, by which I mean everyone, ask me how I can stand to live here, after my grandmother died and everything, but the truth is, it's easy. The house is completely empty, except for whatever furniture I've collected over the last few months, meaning there's no memories of the great Dauna Usher. I never really knew the old coot anyway, so the fact that she's gone doesn't make much of a difference to me. I just know my mother never liked the woman, because I'd hear her talk smack about the geezer all the time. With my younger sister and me, grandma wasn't really much of a bother. She never paid enough mind to us to form any kind of relationship with her, though she did seem to like me best.
To me, getting this place was sort of like getting a free house, because she left it to me in her will, and let me tell you how fucking surprised I was! But then again, it's not like she had anyone else to leave it to. She'd never have left it for my mother or Kairi, hah! And her leaving it to me shows just how much she hated her own daughter and the rest of the family too.
The small bungalow is enough for me, I mean, it sure beats the hell out of living in an apartment, so of course I took the offer. My mom doesn't visit much though, because apparently something about the place makes her feel uneasy. I always have to remind myself that my mom is my grandmother's child, so she lived in this house as a kid, and has much more memories of it and grandma, than I do. Whatever, it's not like I want my mom at my house every day, so it's alright with me. Demyx says he doesn't like my house because can smell the old lady whenever he comes over, but he just says that because he knows it was my grandmother's before.
It seems like a perfectly normal morning, and for a while, I have trouble remembering why I thought it would feel any different today. I get to the kitchen, and find my answer. I can't believe I completely forgot about the 4 foot alien from Demyx's backyard. I hesitate before I walk in, and instead just watch him from the doorway. How did I forget about him?
He's standing in front of the stove, examining it like a mechanic would a car. He's a bit taller than the stove top, so I guess he's more than just 4 feet exactly. I find it sort of hilarious, to be honest. I was so scared of seeing the alien when Demyx told me about it, but now that I have him in my house, the fear is gone. I know I should probably still be afraid, I know nothing about him or his species, but still. It would be pretty funny if his people (can you say people for an alien?) were like intense warriors or something. I watch him gently rap his fist against the front of the oven before finally turning a knob and lighting the front burner. I don't know what he's doing, but I just hope he isn't trying to burn down the house while he thinks I'm still sleeping in it.
My eyes widen to an impossible size when he drops his cheek onto the stove and I scream before I can stop myself. "Roxas, no!" I dash wildly into the kitchen and rip him away from the red burner, expecting to see his flesh bubbling and burnt, only to find the skin completely unharmed and a very blank stare aimed directly at me. He looks mildly annoyed, as I grip him by the shoulders, trying to recover from the shock. When my heart slows, I let him go and turn off the stove.
"If I'm not allowed to warm myself, then assist me in doing so," Before I have time to say anything, he's jumping up and clinging to me like he was last night. My arms automatically wrap around him, even if I don't want him stuck to me. The cold that radiates from his body almost killed me on the walk home. I swear by the time we got inside, my nipples could cut glass. He starts nuzzling against me again and I just give up, standing there as he gets comfortable. The hairs on his head would at first glance appear stiff, all styled to the side by some rock hard alien gel, but when they brush against the bottom of my jaw, it feels like little duckling feathers.
"What's wrong with you anyway?" I huff, ignoring the slight tickle and making my way towards the fridge before I stop. If I open it while he's holding onto me, he's definitely not going to like the frigid air seeping through the thin t-shirt. I try and look towards him but I can't see anything, which leaves me wondering if he even heard what I said. I have no idea if he's an evil alien or not, so I'm not sure if I want to piss him off. Hilarious stature and angelic appearance or not. I have no clue if they're all killing machines.
I have to wonder if the rest of his kind looked like him, if they all spoke English like he does, or if maybe there's a different alien dialect...I have to wonder a lot of things. I mean, I have a fucking extraterrestrial stuck to me, there's obviously questions to ask.
"Your planet's much too cold for me," He shivers a little against me, cutting off my trail of thought when I realize it feels sort of cute. I have to stop and remind myself he's not a kitten or something. He's a freaking alien. I still feel bad that he's suffering, after all, the reason I brought him into my house was to make sure he was alright. I get an idea then and decide to skip breakfast. It's a long shot, but maybe if I were to get him into a few more layers, he'd be warm enough to not have to cling to me. I could toss him on the couch with a few heavy blankets and go about my daily stuff (like stuffing my face) until Demyx gets here. It's perfect.
"I have a solution," I grin as I peal him away from my body easy enough, he struggles a little and I hold him out in front of me. "We'll get you some clothes okay? And blankets...but walk there with me," I set him down and he starts trembling harshly. I have no idea what the fuck is going on and he wraps his arms around himself, glaring at me.
"T-This f-floor is muh-much too c-c-cold," I see his teeth for the first time when they start chattering and I want to laugh. Just like the rest of him, they are tiny but perfectly set along side each other. I don't know if it's because I know he's an alien that his features seem to stand out so much, or if it's because there's something about them that just seems so flawless and unnatural. I remember that Demyx had seen it too and I wonder if anyone else would react to the sight. If I ever find the alien attractive, I'll feel comfort in knowing other people probably would too. I finish thinking this and see he's been shivering the whole time and watching me. I'm about to speak when he jumps up, clinging to me all over again. "Just carry me there, your body warmth should be enough to sustain me," He almost purrs this into my skin and when I grab him, to see if there's even a chance of pulling him away, his grip tightens to where it almost feels crushing.
"Okay, okay...I'll carry you, sheesh," I adjust my arms around him and he settles, lessening the tight hold right away and slouching against me. "They must have really babied their royalty on your planet, huh?" I look down at him and he pulls away to stare at me, I'm surprised he looks confused. So much for superior intelligences and all that jazz.
"No, it's just this planet is freezing. On my home planet, there were 8 suns," his eyes take on a dreamy look and it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. The blue of his irises seems to shift to different shades until finally stopping at a soft blue, and he looks up at me through his eyelashes. I smile, amazed at the changing colour until I see the way his face is all smushed up and sad. I stop walking, half way to my room and he starts making these soft whimpering sounds. I guess the soft blue colour isn't a good thing. "But now it's all gone," and the next thing he does, can only be classified as sobbing, but it's not exactly right. It doesn't sound the way a person's cries would, but that should be obvious. I can't really describe the sound he's making, just know it's enough to break my heart.
"There, there, it's okay," I pat his back softly and slowly he stops making that sad, little sound. I watch a smile form on his face and I struggle not to trip as I start walking again.
"I guess your planet isn't so bad," He shrugs, looking around my house like it's the entire world. "It will do as a new home," I can't wait for Demyx to get here, because I'm sure my friend will know what questions to ask. I'm still in awe about this whole mess, so I don't even know where to start. When we get to my room, the door swings open on its own and I cast a quick glance down at the alien. "Yes?" He catches me looking at him but I stay quiet, instead walking into my room and trying to drop him on the bed.
I say 'trying' because when I get to the edge, he just stays clung to me. I try and peal him off, but it's useless. Every time I tug to try and pry him loose, he tightens his hold. "Let...me...just..." I grunt, struggling to untangle his arms from around my neck, but the little bugger isn't letting go at all. I've always considered myself a rather strong human being, however, I can't seem to get this tiny alien off me. I keep tugging, but each time comes up with the same result."Roxas...I need to...put you...on the bed," When I say that, he lets go easy enough and flops back down onto the mattress before rolling around on it, gathering up all my sheets and ripping them off. I watch him for a few minutes as he makes a sort of nest, before curling up in it and wrapping himself up with a content sigh.
"Are you going to come in here with me? Is that your plan?" His eyes seem to shine from between the sheets and I have to resist the urge to jump back into bed and sleep. He makes it look so comfortable and tempting though.
With the will of an Olympian, I turn away and go towards my closet. I have no idea what I'm going to put on him. My t-shirt alone hangs down by his knees, and it's the smallest one I have. I throw open the door and it doesn't shed any light on the situation either. All I have hanging are a few button shirts, and a few pairs of old pants, either torn to pieces or not what I'm looking for. He needs warm clothes, yet I can't seem to find any. I'm sure I have them somewhere though, I'm not just waltzing around in nothing during the winter. If only I could remember where I put them when the season changed. "Axel Usher, what are you doing?" I hear Roxas from right behind me and I jump up, startled to find him standing there, dragging my bedding around behind him.
"Just call me Axel," I wave my hand around, turning back into the closet but I'm stopped by Roxas when he clutches my wrist. His eyes are wide as he stares down at my hand, examining each finger carefully. The feeling of his skin is so strange but I don't have time to concentrate on it, because it feels like he's going to crush my hand. He turns it over to stare down at my palm, and I watch him, wiggling my fingers to make him loosen his tight grip.
"What are these?" He asks as he tries to rip off one of my finger nails. I yelp in pain and snatch my hand away, sticking the attacked finger in my mouth.
"Those are nails...and they are attached to me," I speak around the finger in my mouth until Roxas pulls it out and looks down at my nails again. I feel sort of self-conscious, because I'm a guy. I don't take care of my hands like I should, so my nails are probably not the best example for him to be looking at. If Demyx were here, Roxas would be able to see a nice manicured hand. I'm not going to get into how weird I think it is that Demyx does his nails.
"Marvelous...and what are they used for?" He looks up at me, and I ignore the sensation I get when he starts caressing my palm. I've never had to tell someone the function of human nails before, so I can't really think of anything besides scratching and to help hands look less freaky. I'm sure there's more to it than that, like maybe a whole scientific reason behind it, but Roxas got stuck with me as a mentor and I'm no genius, that's for damn sure.
"Uh...not much. They're good for scratching an itch though," I grin when I tug my hand away and gently scratch at the fluffy hairs on his head. I'd pull away, if it wasn't the softest thing I've ever felt and trust me, I know soft. I've felt my fair share of fine fabrics, new born puppies (thanks to my sister's love of animals) and over the course of my life, I've felt some pretty smooth skin but Roxas is so much softer than all those things. Demyx says my love for softness is slightly insane at times, but who can resist that texture? I mean...it's amazing.
Roxas lifts up his eyebrows, before realizing that whatever I'm doing feels pretty good. I have to remind myself again that he's not a kitten, but he makes it hard to believe that, especially when he starts to purr just like a cat. I can feel the vibrations as I pet his head and the longer I keep going, the weirder the sounds he makes get. "Pretty cool, huh?" I pull my hand away but he stops me before I can, gripping my wrist again. I take this opportunity to look down at his hands and I see he doesn't have nails. It's not as freaky looking as I thought it would be, but still a strange sight. Again he starts gently running his finger tips along my hand, and moving them along my arm. It's such a feathery touch, it sends shivers through my whole body. A wide smirk breaking out across my face shortly after. I'm so fucking ticklish.
I start to laugh, even if I try and hold it in and he keeps tickling my arm, making me laugh more. Suddenly he stops and grips my face, pulling it close to his. You can imagine I shut up right away. I swallow thickly as he examines me, just like he stared at Demyx in the shed. There's so much questions in his eyes and this is where I realize, it's not about what I want to know. It's about what he needs to know about earth, all the things he needs to find out in order to hide properly for however long he'll have to. I blink a few times and he smiles, watching me still in the same way. "What was that sound? Make it again."
"Uh...I laughed," I remember his laughter last night, and think back to how quiet it had been. I thought it came out so breathless because he was weak from crashing or something, but he seems to be perfectly fine. Well, aside from being so cold all the time. It makes me wonder if maybe he laughs like that all the time. Or maybe I was wrong about the sound. I did assume the light blue in his eyes was a good thing. "Didn't you laugh at me yesterday?" I look at him and he just blinks a few times. I guess it's his turn to be confused.
"Yes, I did laugh...it's just, I've never heard a different sound for laughter before." The whole time he says this, he seems to be figuring things out in his head and I think for a second that he might not need me to explain anything about earth to him. Then I remember his amazement with the discovery of finger nails, so maybe I can teach him a thing or two. "Do all humans...laugh differently?"
I can't help but send him a look like he's crazy. "Uh...yeah...did everyone on your planet laugh the same?" I ask, the look on my face only getting worse. I really can't help it, imagining a place where everyone laughs the same is so fucking weird. Roxas seems to think it's perfectly normal, and looks at me like I'm the one who's a tiny space man, before staring down at my mouth. This reminds me of how close we are, and that he's still clutching my jaw.
He starts to lean in, almost like he's going to kiss me and I freeze up. I know I should pull away, but I can't seem to make myself move an inch. That is until we hear Demyx's loud ass shout from the door way. The alien lets go of me quickly, his head snapping in the direction of my friend. He doesn't make a sound, where as I let out a terrified shout. I was totally not expecting that. For some reason, I had completely forgotten about Demyx coming over. Roxas' eyes widen and he pulls the blankets up to hide his face, dropping to the floor and becoming just a bundle of fabric. I turn around to look at Demyx as he walks in and when I see the raised eyebrow/smirk combo, I know he totally saw whatever was going to happen between Roxas and me. He shouldn't be looking at me like that though, because whatever was going on, is probably nowhere near what he's thinking.
"You could have just saved my life for all we know," I say, sending him a look that should tell him, it is not what he thinks it is. He starts to laugh, shaking his head and stopping right in front of me. He looks down at the little bunch on the floor that is Roxas, and he raises both his eyebrows, losing the other stupid look on his face, thank God.
"Oh yeah, because this tiny alien is such a stone-cold killer," Demyx keeps laughing and I just narrow my eyes at him the longer he keeps going. I guess my dumb friend has never heard that looks could be deceiving. I'll admit, I can't picture the little blonde alien killing anyone, but that's something neither Demyx or I know for certain. For all we know, his planet could be all about killing people. Something in my gut tells me differently though.
Roxas is a lot stronger than I had thought at first glance, so I'm excited for Demyx to find that out too. Maybe then he'll be a little afraid and actually think for a change. "What's he doing?" He asks, looking away from the shivering mass on the floor, as if I should know. As if I bought the fucking alien from a pet shop and was given a whole instruction manual. In case he forgot, I know as much about this whole shebang as he does.
"I have no idea Demyx, he's an alien," I look into my closet and start rummaging, tossing clothes here and there, but I don't know what I'm looking for. I can't believe that for a second, I almost kissed an alien. I have no idea what came over me, I just couldn't move. I'm thankful that my face is hidden in the closet and Demyx can't see me, because if he could...wow, I would never live it down.
Instead of pestering me though, I hear my friend talking softly to Roxas but not a word they're saying to each other. I spot a thick sweater I was given by Kairi when she went into one of her crazy knitting phases and I tug it out of the closet. This thing made me sweat like a fucking pig all Christmas day. I swear I had heat stroke by the end of the night, when my mother told me I could take it off and never wear it again. It's not ugly, it's just...I can't imagine wearing it unless I'm going skiing and I'm never, ever going skiing.
After watching Frozen, with Sora that one time Riku convinced him that any vacation during the winter was a horrible idea, it's safe to say they're never going skiing, and neither am I. Riku is safe from snowy vacations for as long as he stays with that whack-ass brunette, and I'm never going to get along with anyone who likes the cold, so I know I'm good.
"Put this on Roxas," I hand it over to the alien, noticing that he's peeking at Demyx through the blankets, and he looks hilarious with them wrapped around his head. They both look at me when I hand over the purple sweater (yeah, why Kairi knit me a purple fucking sweater, I'll never know), and Roxas hesitates before taking it.
"This is not the best colour," He says before sliding it over his head, like I didn't know that. I freaking hate purple. I remember what I looked like after emerging from the insides of that sweater. My hair was a static mess, and I almost can't believe it when he appears, his hair taking on the exact same style as before. "But it'll do," He bundles up the blankets and tosses them onto the bed. I guess I'll have to remake that later. Demyx looks over at me and smiles excitedly.
"This is the coolest. I personally thought aliens were green," Demyx casts a look towards Roxas and I'm busy trying not to burst out laughing. The tiny alien is almost lost in the huge sweater, and I watch as he rolls up the sleeves quite a bit, to reveal his tiny, nail-less hands. It's useless, the sleeves just fall down again, but he keeps rolling them up.
"Some are, just those from my planet were all like me," Roxas turns his hands over and Demyx sticks out his own, putting them beside the alien's. Demyx immediately notices Roxas' lack of nails and they begin talking about hands."Your finger nails are much nicer than Axel Usher's," Roxas grabs a hold of Demyx's hands, tapping on his nails and my friend looks up at me, laughing after getting a good look at my face.
"Yeah well, Demyx works at a book store, not as a painter," I don't really know why it bothers me, but I stuff my hands in my pockets. I work hard every day, my hands constantly covered in paint, so even if I was worried about my nails, it would be pointless to have them all clean and polished. They'll only be ruined the next day. I mean, I do cut my nails and try to get most of the paint off, but it isn't that easy. They both send me a smile, as if that's supposed to make me feel any better.
"Did everyone on your planet speak English?" I turn to look at Roxas expectantly, because this is a question I'd really like to know the answer to. The alien shrugs his shoulders, looking at his hands angrily as the sleeves roll down again.
"I picked it up when entering your atmosphere. It is the most common tongue here on Earth, correct?" Roxas looks between Demyx and me like whatever we tell him is going to be 100% correct, and I worry about answering some of the questions he might have. I don't want to tell him something and be completely wrong about it, I mean, he looks so trusting of whatever we say.
"I think so...but...did you just learn it while cramped in your space ship or what? How is that even possible?" I resist the urge to scratch violently at my hair in confusion and instead, keep my hands still at my sides. Demyx has no shame, and itches at the spiky hair on his head with abandon. Roxas makes that same, breathless laughing sound again.
"Xartheans possess the ability to communicate with any intelligent life form, and seeing as I seem to have landed where most of the population speaks English, it's what I shall speak for the time being."
"Okay that's completely bad-ass but I think it's time for you to explain why you crashed here on earth," Demyx looks over at me, before he turns towards Roxas and I wonder if the alien is going to get angry with all these questions, but he doesn't. Instead, he rolls down the sleeves of the sweater and stares down at his feet. Both Demyx and me seem to realize we haven't taken a good look at his feet and both stare down. Again, there's no nails, but perfect little toes. It's weird for me to say that though, because I hate feet with a passion stronger than any I've ever known. Demyx looks towards me with a stupid little grin.
We both look back to Roxas when he starts speaking, "I'm not here on any sort of special mission. In fact, my landing here wasn't my decision but my father's. You see, my planet, Xarthe, has been envied by others for as long as I can remember and for as long as anyone else could too. We'd been attacked before, other rulers wanting the secret to our kingdom's success, but they never understood." It looks like he takes a deep breath, but he doesn't, or at least I don't hear him inhaling. "It seemed the other planets hated us so much, it was enough to bond them together to create a way to completely vanish Xarthe and all those living on it." Roxas' eyes are back to that baby blue, and Demyx looks transfixed in the sad stare. I don't know how he can just stare directly into Roxas' eyes like that, without feeling at least a little strange. I can't take the sight, so I have to look away, at anything besides the sad alien face. It makes me wonder just how those other planets could ever want to harm Roxas and his kind, especially if they all looked like him. Then I wonder if maybe they all did something to deserve it, and again the idea of Roxas being an evil alien emerges.
"That's terrible...so, you're the last of your kind?" Demyx drags me out of my thoughts with his voice, and I tune in just in time to hear what Roxas has to say.
"Yes, as the prince of my planet, my father thought I was the one who should be spared. They used our planet's last remaining resources to send me here. My entire trip, I prayed to the stars to let me land on Earth safely, so my father's efforts would not be in vain." Roxas stops speaking then and covers his face with the sleeves of the sweater. Demyx looks over at me with a frown and I don't know what to do. "I'm very grateful for your kindness, earthlings. Back at home, I had been taught that Earth was the closest planet to resemble Xarthe...only run by a pack of possessed Ortos!" When we look back at Roxas, he's laughing again and his eyes are now an almost blinding, electric blue, his smile stretching all across his face. I guess that's a good colour, I just don't understand his joke. What the fuck is an Orto?
Demyx's lets out a little laugh, shrugging before standing up and dusting off his pants. Roxas fixes the front of his sweater before looking at at me, still smiling. "Well, it's not so bad here but you do have to be careful," Demyx looks back at us as he leads the way out of the room to make sure we're following and takes us towards my living room. I really hope he didn't bring the damn pieces of space ship into my house. "Now, I don't know if we're anything like a pack of possessed whachamacallits, but humans aren't the nicest things around, ya know what I mean?" Roxas nods his head, staring at Demyx like he completely understands. I don't really know if he does, or not though.
Why do I even bother in hoping with Demyx? Of course he'd bring the dirty hunks of metal into my house. Why on earth wouldn't he? I try not to start kicking and screaming, instead, I turn calmly to Demyx but I think he knows. Roxas just walks past us, going straight to the pile. "You couldn't have left this out back?" My face slowly transforms from blank to very displeased in a few short seconds. My friend only manages to send me a weak, sorry-ass smile.
"I had a hard enough time sneaking the damn thing over here, I wasn't going to be struggling with your broken back gate too!"
"This is all I need," Roxas turns to us with a tiny black sack in his hand.
"You don't need anything else?" I ask, trying really hard now to avoid that whole tantrum thing I wanted to throw earlier, only it's getting progressively harder not to just drop and start beating the floor with my fists. I hate cleaning so damn much, and now because of Demyx tracking all this mud and gunk inside, I'll have to spend an unseemly amount of time doing just what I hate. "...Anything at all?"
"No, just this," Roxas sets the little bag in his palm before poking at the remains of his ship with his toe. "This isn't even pieces of a ship...it's simply what is left of my transporting pod."
"Heh, I sweat so much for a useless pod... pretty funny, huh Ax?" Demyx looks at me, still grinning like a kid who stuck their hand in their diaper and then smeared the crap on his mother's favorite dress. It's because he knows he's going to have to help clean this shit up, before I go all possessed Orto on his ass.
A/N: If you've been reading my stuff for a while, you must know by now that when I have a new idea...I go update-crazy xD
Sadly, these posting sprees don't last very long...but hey, enjoy it while it's here, right?
This is the second installment to So, You're From Space? and I'm pretty happy with how it's going so far.
I'm oh so very tired right now, but 'Courtney' is giving me a pretty good internet signal, so it's either now or who knows when to post this.
Forgive me for the masses of typos you'll probably find. I take full responsibility.
Oh yeah, I'm changing one of the catergories I placed this story under. It's still going to be a humor-filled fic, but I think this really belongs under the Sci-fi listing...
Y'all can tell me what you think, it's easy peasy to switch it back. I'm just terrible with organizing these things!
3 things to point out: Frozen is a really fucking scary movie. Not in the 'omg monsters and ghosts!' kind of sense but in the 'holy shit, if that was me...' kind of way.
Xarthe is actually just Earth with an X thrown in there. I copied Xemnas' naming strategy 8D
And last but not least...What is an Orto?
In my story they are supposed to be like feral hogs from Xarthe (you're supposed find that out later) but in the real world...it's just another word for ass in spanish.
Anyway, that's all folks!
Thank you all soo much for reading!