“Jude and I came to know each other after my car broke when I was driving from my home of Greece,” Al said with total confidence. Behind him, Jude made an indiscernible noise.
“You drove all the way to Albuquerque, New Mexico from Greece, huh?” Ezra asked, grinning. “That’s pretty far, dude.”
“Oh! Is that what this part of Earth is called? Al-Alberk-Albukaker”—Al struggled to get his mouth to form such a long word—“Alberkerkakay?”
Ezra laughed, not unkindly, and said, “Close enough.”
Al looked at Jude and said, “Bumfuck Nowhere is easier to say.”
Inexplicably, Jude covered his face with his hand while Ezra laughed harder. Al glanced between the two of them, wondering if he was doing the interaction incorrectly. He had gotten all the details right, hadn’t he?
“He’s still learning English,” Jude told Ezra.
Ezra shrugged nonchalantly. “Hey, no worries. Cool pants, by the way.”
Al frowned and then looked down at his legs. He was still wearing the bottom half of his spacesuit, and they were even tighter than they had been before he had transmutated, particularly in his hips and thighs.
“They’re all the rage in Greece, apparently,” Jude interjected quickly. He then tugged on the sleeve of Al’s hoodie—or, well, Jude’s hoodie that Al was wearing—and said, “C’mon, let’s get out of Ezra’s hair. I’ll show you my room.”
“Oooh,” Ezra said, pitching his low voice up an octave.
“Shut up,” Jude said pointedly, although not unkindly. He tugged on Al’s sleeve harder, prompting Al to follow him out of the room.
“You boys have fun and remember to be safe!” Ezra said, still in that strangely high-pitched tone.
Not sure what Ezra meant, but wanting to be cordial, Al said, “Thank you very much please, dude,” which prompted Jude to mutter, “Oh good god,” and all but drag him down a short hallway to the room at the end.
“Well, that could have gone worse, I guess,” Jude said, shutting the door a little harder than seemed strictly necessary. “At least you didn’t outright say, ‘Hey, I’m an alien.’”
“Why would I have said that?” Al asked, furrowing his brow. “It would have made our backstory planning have no point.”
Jude, who was rubbing his temples, glanced at Al and gave a small laugh.
“Yeah,” he said, dropping his arms and deflating a little. “It would have, huh?”
Jude crossed the room to approach the flat and comfortable-looking piece of furniture that Al quickly identified as a bed. It was low to the ground and topped with a nest of tangled blankets and flat, well-used pillows. Jude, ignoring the mess, sat down on the edge and then flopped onto his back, legs hanging over the side. He scrubbed at his face, then laced his fingers together and rested them on his belly. “Today has been”—he blew out a breath—“very,veryweird.” He pushed himself onto his elbows and looked Al over. “How are you doing? Are you okay? I imagine this has to be pretty overwhelming—it is for me and I’m not the one who’s stranded in a different galaxy.”
“I am actually only in a different solar system. Only the most advanced ships can galaxy hop, and even then they only get as far as… as…” He frowned, unable to translate the name of the neighboring galaxy.
“Andromeda?” Jude suggested. “If you’re talking about the galaxy closest to us, I think we call it Andromeda. I only know that because it was a finalJeopardyquestion once.”
“I do not know what a finalJeopardyquestion is, but thank you for the word. Names do not always translate well.”
“What do you call it on your planet?”
Al attempted to say it, but he couldn’t figure out how to get his human mouth to make the correct sounds.
“Hmph,” he grumbled. “I cannot make the words correctly. Your human tongues are too thick for proper speaking. They are stupid, and there is nothing they are good for.” He stuck his tongue out and ran it along his plump bottom lip, trying to get used to its strange shape and texture. When he looked back at Jude, he had a strange expression on his face. Al stopped licking his lips and tilted his head in question. “Why does your face have that emotion?” he asked.
“No reason, man, don’t worry about it,” Jude said casually, although Al noticed that he would not meet his eyes. “You didn’t answer my question, by the way.”
“About how I am doing?”
Jude nodded.
“I am…” Al took a moment to consider his answer. All things considered, he could be doing a lot worse. He was sure that the shock of the day would wear off eventually, and at that time he’d have to jump into problem-solving mode, but for now? He looked at Jude and smiled. “For now I am okay because I am with you.”
“Oh,” Jude said softly. He pushed himself up into a sitting position again. “That’s, uh, that’s nice of you to say.”
