“Are you feeling all right?” Al asked, watching Jude rummage through the bag.
“Yeah, my stomach has just been bothering me off and on all day. Nothing serious.” Jude took out a green plastic bottle. It was filled with a carbonated beverage.
“Do carbonated beverages fix your stomach?” Al asked doubtfully. He had tried one of these carbonated beverages earlier in the week, and the strange sensation had made him splutter, sending fizzy bubbles up his nose. He had decided he did not feel enjoyment toward carbonated beverages after that.
Jude hummed noncommittally. “It helps sometimes. Whenever I had the flu as a kid, my mom would give me ginger ale and saltine crackers. Not sure if a doctor would call it a surefire way to cure a stomachache, butIthink it works.”
“If you teach me how to make these ‘saltine crackers,’ I will prepare them for you. Even if they require the toaster, I will do it to make you feel better.”
“That’s very sweet of you,” Jude said with a laugh, unscrewing the lid to his carbonated beverage. It made a hissing sound and bubbled close to the top, but not high enough to spill over. It must have become hostile upon being jostled around in Jude’s backpack. “No need, though. You can buy a shit-ton of saltine crackers from the store for like, two bucks. Besides, it’s not even that bad of a stomachache. Probably just something I ate.”
Al looked Jude up and down. By now the eggs had been fertilized and were beginning to grow. It wasn’t uncommon for Darvrokian pregnancy to cause occasional nausea, but it usually hit a third of the way through gestation—roughly one human month. It was possible that, due to his different anatomy, the hormones involved were affecting Jude differently, causing heightened symptoms. Al hoped not. He didn’t want what was supposed to be a beautiful experience to cause Jude pain.
“Yes, perhaps it is from the eating,” Al agreed. Jude didn’t seem to think it had anything to do with the pregnancy, so Al wasn’t about to suggest it and make him needlessly paranoid that his hormones were going to make him sick throughout the whole thing. Al would wait, and if it continued to get worse, then he would bring it up.
“Sweet or not, you still haven’t recited the plan to me,” Jude pointed out, taking a sip of his carbonated beverage. Al opened his mouth to protest, but Jude raised an eyebrow at him, making him relent with a huff.
“I am a human male from Athens, Greece, Europe, Earth,” he began.
“Nope, stop, try again.”
“It makes it have more clarity if I—”
“Al.” Jude looked at him pointedly, and Al rolled his eyes.
“I am a human male, but that part is not a necessity to say. I am from Greece. Just Greece, unless I am asked what city, and then I say Athens. I do not have to specify Europe or Earth because everyone will already be knowledgeable of this. I will pretend like it is not rude to not state my full address.”
“It’s not rude in English.”
“Yes, but English is—”
“I know, I know, English is the language equivalent of pubic lice or whatever—justtrustme, okay?”
Al drummed his fingers on the table and finally relented with a nod.
“I will feel trust for you,” he agreed. “I am Al Leon from Greece. Athens if I am asked. I have come to Alberkerkakay in order to study engineering. I will tell other humans that I am interested in engineering that is used for space vehicles. I will not mention that the reason I feel this interest is because I have the necessity to steal parts from the engineering department to create an intergalactic communication device to call my parents. You and I became acquainted because my car became broken. I was not driving it from Greece. You and I have begun a love affair, which is why you have investment in the things that I am doing.”
“Is that…” Jude shifted in his seat, looking a little uncomfortable. “Is that part still okay? It’s just, since you’re staying at my house, and Ezra already knows that we’ve… it just seems like the most plausible thing to tell people.”
Al cocked his head at the question.
“Of course it is okay,” he said. Al understood why Jude might not wish to tell everyone that they were True Mates, but it made sense to Al to at least publicly identify as a couple. As Jude had explained that first night, lies were better when they were close to the truth.
“All right,” Jude said, visibly relaxing. “Good. Then this should be fine. Like I said, Corbin doesn’t ask a lot of questions, and honestly, you’re hot enough that when he finds out you’re a gay Greek wannabe engineer, he won’t even notice if you say something weird.”
“Why would I say something weird?”
Jude stared at Al for an increment of time, then cleared his throat.
“Right. Anyway, he shouldn’t be long now.”
In fact, they hardly had to wait two full minutes before a man came and joined them in the back corner of the library. He was short, slender, and had hair as thick as Jude’s, but instead of being brown, floofy, and a bit of a mess, it was blond and meticulously curled in a way that seemed quite purposeful. Like Jude, he also carried a backpack, although his was decorated with colorful pins that Al did his best to read. One said “Kick ass. Kiss ass. Eat ass.” Another said “I’m Your Husband’s Mistress.” A small one on the left strap simply said “Bitch.”
Al was not sure what to make of any of it.
“Hello, hello, hello!” Corbin said, waving at the two of them as he rushed over. “Jude, always a pleasure.” He blew a kiss at Jude, who snorted in response.
“Yeah, hi,” he said.
