Work Text:
Alien Contemplations
Harry’s body floated face down in the frigid waters of Patience’s lake. Though the ice had long since gone out, the lake was fed by the freezing run off from the slowly melting glaciers on the surrounding mountains. Harry was too deep in thought to enjoy the sensation of the cold water on his body.
So much had happened over the last 48 hours. ” One moment I am on my way back to my planet, having failed my mission,but at least on my way home, and the next I am marooned on Earth, my ship destroyed. How did this happen? “, Harry thought. He tried to review events in his mind but there were gaps in his memory. “ No doubt the result of the head injury, “ he thought.
The more he thought about it the less sense it made. “ There is no way that little shit pocket could have done anything to cause the crash. He could never have taken over the controls, my ship only responds to me. My ship would never respond to a human’s touch. I must have turned the ship around.”
Harry thought hard, but the more he tried to focus, the more his head hurt and the harder it became to focus. But something poked at the back of his mind, “There is something I am missing.”
Harry tried another tactic,” I will just try to relax and float here awhile.” Harry let his body go limp. He began to move away from focusing on the past 24 hours. Instead he focused on the soothing sensations of the icy water as it flowed over his gills. His eyes were opened. He was watching some small fish searching for food on the bottom of the lake. He let the sensation of the rise and fall of gentle waves lull him into a semi trance.
“ I miss my planet, my people…” it gave him a physical sensation of pain in the center of his chest. He recalled the last moments with Asta, when he decided not to kill everyone.
“ This sensation in my chest is the same as when I said goodbye to Asta,” he thought.
“I was on my ship, passing their moon, and I let the device detonate,” he recalled.
“Then…what?...Max…I heard Max, he was afraid…afraid I would not take him back home.”
“ I was angry…I was not going to return him…not if it meant going back. But his fear was overwhelming to me. I …I told Max I would take him home. I could almost feel his rear iris unpucker. I really just wanted to jettison him into space …but that would be littering….”
“What happened next? I turned the ship around and … what? I remember the little human was much less whiny. He started to really look around… to notice where he was … he began to ask questions about what he was seeing. It had to be impressive to him. He was much less murderable then. I can recall him wanting to take a quick side trip around the earth's solar system. It would not have taken very long…. we could have done it. Did we? I cannot recall…maybe if I just relax, “ Harry thought.
Harry let the sensations of the water and the gentle rocking waves take him deeper into his mind. He could picture the inside of his spaceship, Max, the stars, earth’s moon, earth and in the distance, the other planets. Max was asking him questions, he had forgotten to be scared.
“ I liked Max when he was not being scared and whiny. I liked answering his questions and showing him things. It gave me a good feeling”, Harry thought. “ It was odd though, I could feel his awe at what he was seeing, it made me want to show him more, and the more I showed him the more I wanted to show him…” Harry pondered that for a moment. It was disconcerting to him because it was as if he had not been in control, and it suddenly dawned on him, “ Max was driving the ship…through me! But how???”
Harry thought hard now, this had happened to him before, with Isabell. Harry knew very little about human sexual practices and was certainly not an accomplished human lover. Yet he had been able to please Isabell and the more he had pleased her, the more he was able to please her. “ When I was with Isabell, I could feel her… desire? …pleasure? I had been able to please her…I did everything she liked but I do not know how I knew what to do or how to do it. Had she been driving me too?” This thought truly unnerved him.
“ What are these humans doing to me? I need to go home, I need to be among my own kind…but now, I am stuck here! I failed my mission and I am stuck here… among these gross creatures who would think me a monster… I am alone here..far from anything familiar to me … or anyone who understands who I am.” Suddenly the tightness in his chest threatened to crush him.
Harry pushed these thoughts aside. He still had a mystery to solve namely, “How did I end up back here? “
“Had Max actually been driving the ship? Who had been in control? Max…he wanted to see the Solar system and I….I took him for a ride!” Harry recalled triumphantly. “ Yes! We took a detour out to Pluto, and around his sun, we stopped by the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter. I was even able to show him that transit station on Mars. He enjoyed it greatly. It had resulted in some unwelcome touching …hugging,” Harry made a face at the memory.
“Then what… what happened next… ? “ Harry let his mind wander….
” Max asked me something….what was it… he saw something … “ Harry’s head began to hurt again.
“ Maybe if I go from what I remember. “ Harry closed his eyes. He recalled his confusion at finding himself in the noodle restaurant standing in front of Asta, who seemed really relieved to see him. He remembered the panic when it dawned on him that his ship was in danger. Next, he was in the ball field. His ship was damaged, it would not fly, and he could not fix it. Asta had convinced him that he had to do something quick …he destroyed his ship ( there was that sensation in his chest again)...he had gone back to his cabin. Max was there. Max was accusing him of “loving him”, of “being like a father to him” , of “protecting him during the crash”. Harry was not sure what he felt at such accusations.
After telling Max to go, he had gone to his bedroom and…what? He remembered … the ship out of control…fear for Max.The ship out of control!…why out of control? He could feel it coming back to him…almost there …Max asked him about something…something he saw? …almost there….the readings on the instrument panel had all gone red…alarms..why alarms? There was a sound… he turned his head in time to see….
Suddenly Harry felt himself being pulled up and violently flipped over, and there was… Asta!
“What are you doing !” Harry exclaimed, indignant.
“I thought you were drowning!!” Said Asta, the panic still evident in her voice.
“Can’t an alien think underwater without being disturbed??? '' Harry shook the water from his gills.
“YOU HAVE GILLS??” Asta’s voice registered incredulous disgust.
“You humans are so judgmental ,” Harry said disapprovingly to Asta.
Harry made his way toward shore. His head was hurting again, he felt drained, and defeated. He tried to refocus but the moment was past. There had been something but it was gone now. He was too exhausted to try again. Maybe tomorrow…
End