This just made Ezra laugh harder.
“At least this will be easier to explain than the whole alien spaceship thing. Kind of,” he pointed out. “Assuming no one saw the two of them land and come to our door. I’m fully prepared to gaslight Homeland Security if they come knocking, though. Aliens? Never heard of them. But you know what I have heard of? My new favorite drink—Alcoholic Beverage Incorporated.” Ezra cracked up once again at his own joke, and Al rolled his eyes.
“I typically feel appreciation for your calm demeanor in times of high stress,” he said, “but for some reason I am feeling less relief and more irritation than usual.”
Ezra shrugged. “Can’t win ’em all.”
He did not cease chuckling.
“Dude, is this your car?” one of the people gathered shouted up at them from the street.
“This is correct, dude,” Al called back. “Please do not cause harm to it.”
“It’s sick,” the person said.
“It is a vehicle, it does not contract viruses or bacteria, dude,” Al said, frowning.
“Uh, okay,” said the person, and turned away.
“We really need to move to a better neighborhood,” Ezra observed. He had finally ceased his chuckling. “These people are acting like they’ve never seen a cool car in person before. Honestly, we should worry less about Homeland Security and more about some idiots trying to strip your parents’ ship for parts when we’re not looking.”
“Let them,” Al muttered, and Ezra laughed again, this time more kindly. He bumped Al’s shoulder with his, and Al was, reluctantly, placated by the distant feeling of calm Ezra exuded.
“Hey,” Ezra said, “you doing all right? I know it’s been a stressful couple days for you, and your parents’ arrival hasn’t seemed to make things any better. Like, I might not have the ability to get all telepathic and suddenly understand alien—totally unfair, by the way—but I didn’t need to understand the words to know that your reunion wasn’t exactly friendly.”
The two of them stood side-by-side, passively supervising the gathered crowd. Al blew out a huff of a laugh.
“This is what you would refer to as ‘an understatement,’” he said. “My parents are… difficult to please, and I have done many things to warrant their feelings of disappointment.”
“Your parents should be more forgiving,” Ezra said. “Trust me, I’ve done plenty to ‘warrant feelings of disappointment’ from my mom, but even when she’s mad, she doesn’t let me forget that she loves me and just wants what’s best for me.”
“I am aware that my parents feel love for me, but they also have high expectations, and I am… let us just say, quite good at not meeting these expectations.”
“Are they mad about the whole”—Ezra made a vague, all-encompassing gesture—“situationbetween you and Jude?”
Al grimaced.
“They told Jude about the ramifications of breaking our bond,” he said with a sigh. “They do not feel approval for our decision for me to take our offspring back home and sever it.”
“Well, I mean, not to come to their defense or whatever, but I don’t really approve of that plan either,” Ezra said, catching Al off guard. “For what it’s worth, I think you and Jude are idiots for thinking that’s what either of you actually want.”
“I do not feel understanding,” Al said with a frown.
“I’m just saying, I’ve been around the two of you for a while now. I’ve seen how you act around each other. I’ve heard, against my will, how much you fuck each other. Plus you’re always all gooey-eyed and shit. And before you say it, I don’t mean just you. Jude is just as guilty. Honestly, I think if the universe put all this work into making sure you two found each other, then it’d be a pretty stupid fucking idea to let that go. Maybe it’s not a bad thing that Jude knows about the bond now. Maybe it’ll finally get him to take his head out of his ass and admit the truth.”
“And what is the truth he would admit to once he removes his head from his anus?”
Ezra shrugged. “That he loves you, man.”
Al felt doubt—if Jude felt the way he did, surely he would have said so by now—but Ezra seemed to have a lot of conviction. Perhaps he knew more than Al and Jude did. Ezra did tend to be wise.
“That said,” Ezra continued, “youdidjust leave Jude alone with your parents, which kind of seems like a recipe for disaster.”
“Oh shit,” Al said in his native language as the realization dawned on him. In English he asked, “Will you handle the…” He nodded at the race car.
“Yeah dude, I got it covered. Go get your man. Or rather, go rescue your man from your parents.”
Al nodded his thanks to Ezra, then sprinted into the house to save Jude.
