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It doesn’t take very long for Will to start worrying about Gerard. Sure, the two of them had been talking about going out in public for weeks. Will needed to make sure that the intrepid alien understood everything about human life.
Well, everything in the kind of way where cliff-notes could give him the run down of what was and wasn’t mundane. The kind of quick explanations that he knew Gerard was going to need to write down just to keep up with, but was still necessary if they were ever going to be satiated. Even if they never would be.
Still, it was one thing for them to be overly friendly to strangers on the street, it was one thing for them to walk around with a hat tight enough to hide their antenna, and it was one thing for him to always have to protect them. No matter how many limits he’d set on them, though, there was always going to be the issue of their curiosity.
They wanted to see the world, and Will had to find a way to accommodate that. Which he did. It took some thinking, and multiple conversations talking down the overeager alien, but he figured out the perfect day to introduce the world to their interstellar visiter.
“There are so many people!” Gerard gapped as the two of them began walking down the orange painted streets.
The streets lights specifically bounced over a variety of decorations giving the night a colorful shade all it’s own. It was as though the two of them had stepped into a Guillermo Del Toro movie, and the buzz that the people carried with them only reinforced that. Especially, when it came to their costumes.
Gerard may have gone out that night looking to experience humanity, but they weren’t exactly being very human that evening. No, there were plenty of vampires and werewolves and witches and wizards and so many other magical creatures out on the streets that night. Both young and old were genuinely getting into the spirit of the evening, and there was an inescapable gleen beyond the alien standing next to him.
Pop culture characters wandered around them with a few even stopping to regard Gerard’s ‘costume’ to compliment him on it. They would practically vibrate with delight at any sort of acknowledgement any of the people would give them. Their eyes would go wide, they’d give the person their biggest smile, and they’d thank them profusely. They’d also make sure to find some part of the person’s costume to compliment too. They were just a giant ball of compliments after a certain point. Not to mention the way their antenna twitched with excitement each time they’d receive a compliment. It never ceased to amaze Will how they would seemingly act of their own accord.
It was one thing to have experienced the inane situation of witnessing them have to rip off their own skin and completely change their appearance, but the new flesh did suit the night well. Their once yellow eyes being pink were a nice off set to the orange and yellow hues their skin had taken on. And their longer black hair was a good way to keep the back of their neck warm as well, along with the longer black jacket they were wearing too. It was perfect fall attire, he just wished he hadn’t had to witness the creation of it in real time too.
Still, it was just so impressie all the little things that went into his anatomy. His antenna could just have a life of their own. If he ever needed help telling what they were feeling it was a good enough tell. Though, to be fair, their face wasn’t very good at hiding things.
Their eyes, however, were one of the most interesting things to watch. The antenna’s could twitch around all they wanted, but watching their eyes move through the world and process the Earth around them was riveting. Even if he wasn’t in their head he could almost imagine what they were thinking at each given moment. And there was no better night for it either.
As he felt them tug on his arm to move faster a spark of anxiety bubbled up from inside him. Losing them to the crowded street would be one thing to deal with. He knew he’d eventually be able to find them again. All he’d have to do was follow the trail of confused humans and there they would be. It was easy enough in theory, but the image of the FBI or CIA or some other scary sounding organization appearing from no where and dragging them away kept haunting him.
Even on Halloween, the exact time a group like that wouldn’t be able to find them, it was still always possible that they were waiting for a moment to strike and take them away to Area 51 or some other spooky place. God knows what would happen to them from there, and he would never be able to find out what exactly happened to them.
That thought made him tighten his grip around their hand just the little bit extra as he let them start to take the lead. The two of them weaved their way from street corner to street corner as they picked up beads, candy, and toys. It all ranged in size and quality, but each item retrieved made Gerard light up more and more.
It felt impossible for them to be so over flowing with joy, but maybe since they were something beyond humanity there were more emotions for them to experience too.
Eventually, Gerard wore down enough for the two of them to sit down on the curb and watch the rest of the world pass them.
“You weren’t kidding, there are so many new people here. And they are so nice!” They excitedly shook Will’s hand as their eyes darted from person to person in front of them.
Hunched over on the sidewalk, it was easier to take in the parade of people in front of them. As the evening had wore on the children out and about had been ushered away by their chaperones, which left the real festivities to commence.
It certainly left more of a spectacle for the two of them to take in as this block party quickly began to escalate into drunken revelry.
“I wouldn’t exactly describe them as being friendly now.”
“Their just having fun.”
He shook his head slightly and took note of the fact that they’d have to leave sooner rather than later. In conjunction with that thought, he took note of the fact that they hadn’t let go of his hand yet. They’d long since stopped shaking it as they settled into their position on the curb, but they still had their fingers interlaced with his.
“Just, give them time.”
“Are you trying to say that we’re going to need to get going soon?”
Their fingers slightly applied pressure to his and a shock ran through his body. It didn’t come off as an attempt to get them to stay longer or anything, if anything it came off more as reassuring, but there was still some kind of reaction within him to it. If there was nothing he hadn’t learned since letting Gerard enter his life it was that physical touch could really stur something in him. Like an enate chemical reaction went off inside of him every time the sensation ran through him. He just hadn’t been able to process it with everything else going on around them.
“Maybe, but it’s a really nice night. I’d hate to drag you inside and take you away from all of this.”
Their antenna curled inwards before extending toward the sky. A breeze ran through the crowded street at the same time and they leaned into the sensation. Will surprised himself by squeezing Gerard’s hand as a response. It was inherently adorable, he just couldn’t help himself but react.
Gerard’s eyes flicked down to their clasped hands before smiling to themself, “We have a ways to walk before getting back to your place, right?”
It was a decent walk from where they were. Will knew that the night was going to be nice enough for them to comfortably going to and from without a problem. Still, it was a decent walk. By car it probably wouldn’t have been too bad, not counting traffic, but with how much walking they’d already done walking back would take it’s toll on anyone, alien or human.
“Well,” Gerard said as they suddenly stood up. Pulling Will behind them, they made the human stumble forward with the surprise motion and have to catch himself against their shorter body. His face scrunched up from the embarrassment as he took a step back. His flushed face made them beam once more, though, as they finished their sentence, “we should probably get going then.”
Will took a moment to clear his throat as he could feel his face growing warm again. It was so stupid how ready his body was to give away the swirling feelings in his head. His own sort of sabotaging antenna, when he thought about it.
“You sure? Its okay if we hang out for a bit longer.”
Gerard looked over their shoulder to take in their surroundings once more. Their eyes scan over the crowd behind them before turning back to Will. “I’m sure, the walk back will be nice. A lot quieter than here, at any rate.”
Again, they began to pull on Will’s hand leading the two of them out the way they came. He didn’t resist this time, though. He watched as Gerard weaved them safely passed party goer after party goer and around all the hazards that came with that. They’d already made up their mind about what they wanted to get out of the night, he was just a little confused about what that was.
“I thought you’d want to observe humanity for a little bit longer.”
“Eh, I’ve seen a lot tonight. A lot of different kinds of people, all different shapes and sizes and ages too, but there’s only so much I can process at any given second. I’d rather enjoy the rest of the night with my favorite human than with a bunch of strangers.”
They finally broke through the crowd when they finished talking, and, once again, Wil tightened his grip on Gerard’s hand. It kept waxing and waning between the two of them which was gripping to the other harder, but Will was ready to hold on as tight as he needed to until they got home.
“I’m your favorite?”
He hadn’t quite realized he was asking the question before it came out, but once it was hanging in the air he cringed backwards.
“Of course, silly!” Gerard pulled Will’s hand closer to their face before placing a surprise kiss on top of it, “You’ve done so much for me. The least I can do for you is at least acknowledge that you’re my favorite human.”
He couldn’t find any meaningful words to response to the action that the alien had just imparted onto him, so he just continued to follow behind them. His mind ran through all the possible meanings of the action that had just been imparted onto him, but he couldn’t find it in him to ask any meaningful questions in that moment.
They were walking through the cool, crisp, autumn air holding each other’s hands and being the only living souls for miles around. It was easier to simply focus on the moment then suffer through the agony of what their relationship status truly was.
That could be future Will’s problem, but right then he was going to be in the present. Because the night was still young and they hand a long walk ahead of them. But knowing that neither of them were going to let go of the other made it all easier to tolerate, in the end.