“You know this is not my real appearance,” Al pointed out, and Jude couldn’t bring himself to admit that—honestly—he’d kind of forgotten. Of course he knew objectively that underneath the Greek god was the alien he’d seen the night they met, but it had been nearly two months since then, and he’d gotten used to Al’s human disguise.
“Doesn’t matter,” he mumbled, not wanting Al to feel self-conscious. “No matter what body you’re in, you’re still you. A big dork, but a very sweet one.”
Al smiled shyly, ducking his head. When he looked back up, he had the inkling of a smolder in his eyes. “You are lucky,” he said. “You are pretty even without a disguise. Even on Darvrok 6, people would think so.”
It was a weird compliment, sure, but it made Jude swoon. Lightheaded from the rush of it, he breached the short distance between them and pressed their lips together. Al sighed into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Jude, licking into his mouth, and Jude’s heart began to beat triple time. He dug his fingers into Al’s shoulders, not wanting this to end, and kept them there until they had to part to catch their breath. In that quiet moment, still buzzing from what Al’s compliment had done to him, Jude touched their noses together and whispered, “You taste like taco sauce.”
Al laughed, and it was like nothing mattered anymore. Not his parents, not his brother, and not the stressful situation hiding an alien in plain sight had put him in.
“You are my favorite,” Al whispered in return, and kissed Jude again.
Jude wasn’t sure if Al knew quite what “favorite” meant—perhaps it was getting lost in translation—but the more he thought about it, the more the word felt right. Almost as though Al was becoming his favorite, too.
Except Al was leaving, and not just to a different city, or even a different country, but to somewhere so far away that he couldn’t point it out in the night sky. In the back of his mind, Jude knew he should probably put some distance between them before his feelings got stronger. He was setting himself up for heartbreak otherwise.
But Jude had never been much of a fighter, and the path of least resistance was so much easier to take.
So, heart full, he kissed Al deeper. He would deal with the heartbreak later. For now, he would be happy with the sweet alien who made him feel like out of all the humans on Earth, he was the most perfect one.
11
Al
Al was sitting on the couch in the living room with the entertainment box (“television,” Jude had explained multiple times, but Al thought his words were more descriptive), playing one of Jude’s many favorite programs. The one currently on the screen wasI Told You You’re Ugly. From what Al had ascertained, each episode involved a human being and their mate. The human would be offered “plastic surgery,” which to the best of Al’s knowledge, did not involve plastic. The type of plastic surgery offered would be determined by the mate. The mate would tell the human what part of their body they found reprehensible, and they would then post photographs on the internet, and if other humans on the internet agreed with the mate’s assessment, the human would proceed with the surgery. Jude had said that many bonds were broken by the time the “reunion episode” occurred at the end of the season.
While Al could see the appeal of such a program—the “drama of it all,” as Jude referred to it, certainly felt addictive—Al couldn’t relate to the premise.
He looked away from the entertainment box and over at Jude. He was fast asleep, curled up in a ball reminiscent of the way Buttons slept, and Al was awash with a strong feeling of fondness. He attempted to think of something he would change about Jude, were they ever participants onI Told You You’re Ugly, but nothing came to mind.Maybehe would suggest giving him an extra set of arms, but that would be for practical purposes only. Jude was plenty beautiful despite the inefficiency of his human form.
What would Jude change about me?Al wondered, the thought coming to him unbidden.
It was clear that Jude felt attraction toward Al’s pretend human form, but how did he feel about Al’srealform? His actual body from Darvrok 6? He’d only observed it briefly in the darkness, and not even in full, but surely the memory remained. And as much as Al wanted to believe that being True Mates would allow Jude to overlook their physical differences, Al knew it was naive to think that it wouldn’t pose any problems down the line. Al was used to cross-species friendships and mating, but Jude, from a species yet to officially make first contact, was not.
Al began to feel worry, and not just over Jude’s sexual attraction toward him—what concerned him the most was the fact that their children would be half Darvrokian, and what if Jude felt discomfort with that? Al couldn’t bring himself to believe that Jude would ever reject his own offspring, but given the strength of the Darvrokian genes, it was very likely their children would resemble Al significantly, and Al would not fault Jude if he felt unnerved by the whole thing.
Could that be the reason why Jude had shown such disinterest in discussing his pregnancy? It had been a little over two months and they still hadn’t talked about it. At least, not directly. Sure, Jude made occasional references to his upset stomach or how he was feeling bloated yet somehow ravenous at the same time, but he had not once acknowledged the fact that life was growing inside of him. He did not express longing to meet their eggs, nor had he wondered—not even once—how many there might be, and Al did not feel certainty about why that was the case.
Unless it was true, and their children’s physical differences from Jude were causing Jude to feel discomfort.
But Jude was far too kind a human to feel such a thing.
It was Al who was bad. He himself was the one feeling uncertain, and was unfairly pinning his own uncertainty on Jude.
Feeling frustration about the situation, Al muttered a curse in his native tongue, chastising himself. Jude’s eyelids fluttered as he spoke, but he did not wake. Carrying and nurturing their offspring was a tiresome duty, and Jude often felt great amounts of fatigue, which caused his bouts of unconsciousness to be more frequent and more difficult to rouse from. Al secretly felt enjoyment at this, as it allowed him more opportunity to observe Jude in this state without being reprimanded. Jude had, in fact, informed Al that this act was “creepy” multiple times, but Al found that he could not resist the impulse. Again, he thought of that silly reality entertainment program, and how he did not feel comprehension about how someone could wish to alter their mate. Jude was so very beautiful. So beautiful, there was nothing about him Al wished would be made different…
Which caused Al’s uncertainty to repeat itself.
As he sat there observing Jude’s peaceful, unconscious form with an increasing feeling of anxiety, Al realized that he was getting stuck inside what Jude had described as a “panic spiral.” It had happened to Al before, roughly three weeks prior, when he had learned about daylight saving time. The stupidity of such a concept had sent him into one of these spirals then as well.
During said spiral, Jude had assisted him by distracting him from his anxious thoughts. His distraction tactic in that instance had been to reach out and undo the button to Al’s pants, which had been a more than sufficient diversion from the knowledge that human beings—not all of them, mind you, only some of them—altered their clocks by an hour (which was already a ridiculous unit of measurement) twice a year (also a ridiculous way of measuring time), and damn, Al was now thinking about daylight saving time in addition to his current worries about his and Jude’s relationship.
Al needed a distraction, but rousing Jude out of unconsciousness for sexual activity right then seemed to be in poor taste. Jude felt fatigue, and it was important for him to obtain adequate rest in order to successfully nurture their growing offspring. Al would need to find his own means of soothing his distress.
From the kitchen, Al could hear Ezra humming a tune as he prepared food for consumption.
That would work.
Careful not to jostle Jude too much, Al stood from the couch. He cast a last glance at Jude’s calm expression, resisted the urge to brush his fingers through his soft floof of hair, and went to seek Ezra’s company instead.
