THE DAY SEEMED TO FLY by all too quickly and it was once again nightfall in Hoveton. The town was quiet and peaceful, some still slightly a-buzz with the whole news about the mysterious light and what it could have been. It felt good being one of the only ones who knew that it had actually been an alien space-ship entering the atmosphere.

Loudrix was curled up in the corner of my couch, a cup of tea clasped between his palms. His eyes were fixed on the TV, and every few seconds he would jump when the screen changed. It was amusing. The more I watched him, the more I was determined to help him fit in to living a human-like life. It was the only way he would survive on Earth.

"Quit jumping," I told him.

He looked at me with wide eyes. "It's difficult when the images flash by so quickly and then continue to advertise things I am not accustomed to."

"Alright," I muttered before stuffing some pizza into my mouth. Loudrix had finished eating his second plate of pancakes minutes before and I'd miraculously managed to find out that he also liked the taste of strawberries. He was rather odd with the food I'd put before him and it was getting on my nerves.

"What is a Dyson?" he asked suddenly.

"It's a hoover. You know? A vacuum cleaner. It cleans your house of dirt."

"Ah," he muttered, turning his head back to the television. Not a moment later he looked to me again. "What's a Toyota?"

"A car. It's a vehicle we use to get places," I told him.

"I see," he said, turning back to look at the TV. He was entranced; his blue eyes focused contently on the moving images. I had no idea what he was watching, I'd only turned it on and told him to occupy himself by watching whatever it played. By the looks of things, it was a talk show, now on the adverts. Good thing he seemed interested in it.

"Do you not have TVs or monitors you watch things on?" I asked. "Like, do you have news or TV shows?"

He shook his head. "We believe in tranquillity and nothing phony. We work hard, look after ourselves and do not waste our time with unnecessary things."

"OK," I began, "but what if you get bored and have nothing to do? You can't watch anything ... so do you have music?"

"Oh, yes!" He seemed to perk up at the mention of music and I listened carefully. "We have many wonderful musicians back on Junito. The sounds that their instruments make are glorious, some heart-wrenching. It's amazing."

"You'll have to let me hear some of this Junito music," I said and he just chuckled.

"Perhaps as a thank you after all of this," he said with a grin and I just returned one, unsure of what else to say.

His questions made me ponder several things. I wondered what else was differently named back on his home planet. Their transport for example, and musical instruments. Did they have basic things like knives and forks or did they have something completely different? Did they celebrate things like birthdays or Christmas? Did they repopulate the same way?

Out of curiosity, I asked, "How do you travel on Junito? Just in space-ships?"

"We travel on foot, in ships, however we please," he said with a shrug. "I do hope all the information we're exchanging shall be kept between the two of us."

"Of course," I said. "Who am I going to tell?"

"Your other human companions," Loudrix said quickly. "I have my Junite companions and you have your human companions."

I paused for a moment, recalling his determination as he voiced how his people wanted to communicate with us. I said, a little too smugly, "How are you going to tell your people about Earth and its inhabitants if this stays between the two of us?"

He seemed lost for words, his mouth hanging wide open as he tried to think of a clever come-back.

I raised a brow.

He furrowed his.

"I see we have come to a stale-mate," he pointed out. "All I ask is that you keep the information I am sharing between the two of us. It could result in ugly consequences for my planet."

"But if you tell your people about this place, that would mean that Earth may have consequences," I argued.

"I see," he muttered. "OK, how does this sound, Earthling? We share our knowledge carefully and with caution to those we trust most?"

I nodded, seeing no other way about it if we ever wanted to share the story of alien-meets-human. That would be one to tell the grand-kids. The mention of human companions made me realise there truly weren't many for me to tell. I knew my friend Jason would want to hear about Loudrix, but I couldn't be one-hundred percent sure he wouldn't ask for samples or information from Loudrix and scare him back into the wheelie-bin.

Jason was a great friend, but ever so interested in advancing his work. Who knows how he would react to an alien being in Hoveton.

"So," Loudrix said suddenly, his attention back on my face, "if I am to survive here, what else do you suppose I should need to know?"

"Well, obviously you need to stop talking about your home so openly," I said. "The kid who told me you were in the rubbish bin heard you on about Junito. If you're going to be staying here, you need to keep your origins hushed or else people are going to start asking questions."

He nodded. "OK, so no talking of my home. Seems rather lonely."

I felt bad. Also, I felt good. He had to understand that the world was cruel and if he was gong to survive in it, he had to make an attempt to play by the rules. Life is a bítch and he had to listen carefully if he was going to be wandering around under-cover.

"You need to act natural around things which may unnerve you a little," I said. "If you freak out when seeing something so common like a bus or a dog, people are going to think you're crazy."

"Alright."

"And I also think you should talk a little less ... you know? Weirdly," I finished. How else was I supposed to say it? English, not his mother language, was something he'd have learn to use a little better. Sure, some people spoke in a posh manner with big words, but not quite to the extent that he did. Plus, he couldn't go around calling people Earthlings.

"Weirdly, you say? I believe I speak rather exceptionally," he said with a curt nod of the head.

I shook mine and told him, "That was the perfect example. Though some people do speak like that, something a little more like, 'Weirdly? I think I speak fine,' would have worked too. You get what I mean?"

"I kind of understand," he admitted. "So, you are requesting that I speak a little more, what you consider, normal?"

I nodded once again. "Yes, so like, say things in a more simple way. You don't need to use big, fancy words to describe how you are feeling or what you're doing."

"Have I spoken like that thus far?" he asked.

I just stared at him. I took a deep breath before saying, "You said you were quenched and famished earlier. Just use 'hungry' and 'thirsty,' yeah?"

"Oh, I understand now," he said. "It shall take a little time for me to become familiar and accustomed with using English. I shall try hard."

"Yes, you will," I chuckled before giving him a quick look over.

His brown hair was a messy nest and needed a serious brush. Stubble had appeared on his jaw and he looked rather tired around the eyes. He needed rest, that was obvious, but apart from that he appeared to be fine and content.

I thought about what else we had to work on to shape him into a 'human.' He looked alright, he spoke kind of alright and he wouldn't draw unnecessary attention to himself if he were to walk down the street - considering he didn't freak out at the stupidest of things like before.

Then it hit me. One of the most obvious things we'd have to change; his name. 

"We need a new name for you," I said.

"Excuse me?!" he bellowed suddenly, making me jump. He slammed his mug down on the table and stood to face me. He looked positively livid. "I think not! My name was passed down the generations of powerful Junites! It is insulting that you would even consider trying to re-name me!"

I just looked at him and counted to ten mentally, waiting for him to calm down.

One...

He was standing, his hands balled into fists.

Two, three...

Despite his  furrowed brow and narrowed eyes, he still didn't intimidate me all that much.

Four, five, six...

He inhaled deeply and his features softened into a curious gaze.

Seven, eight, nine, ten.

"I apologise," he muttered. "I am very passionate about my family and people."

"I can tell," I said. "Let me rephrase what I meant."

He nodded and slowly sat down, his attention fully on me. "Go ahead."

"OK," I started. "The name Loudrix is not even a name here. The best thing for you, me and everyone else on Junito and Earth is for you to think of either a nickname or a new name while you are here. If you tell people your real name, you are going to be questioned like crazy."

"You mean to tell me that because my name is unique,  people won't accept me?" He seemed to be upset as he said it, knowing deep down it was true.

I nodded. "Kind of. Loudrix is literally not a name. Here, anyway. So, people will look for information on you, hunt you down and ask questions. They will find out your true identity."

"I see," he muttered. "I am reluctant to change my name - it is a strong name, a fighter's name-"

"I'm not doubting you," I cut him off. "I love your name. But while you are here, for your safety, it must be changed."

"Alright, I shall take your word for it. However, I am unfamiliar with common names used on Earth. What would you suggest?"

There are tons of names, I thought to myself. He isn't keen on changing his name though...

No names I thought of seemed to ring any bells and Loudrix thought the same as I said one after the other.

"Steven?"

"No."

"Lucas?"

"No."

"Anthony?"

"No."

"Um ... Declan?"

"No, thank you."

"Fraser? Shane? Brian?"

"What are these so-called names? They sound awful!"

"Well, Loudrix will sound awful to us," I snapped and the alien just rolled his eyes.

"Is there anything that sounds like Loudrix?" he asked.

"Not that I can think of. We could shorten it to Lou?"

"It sounds very boring," he said, scrunching his nose up slightly.

Eventually, we ended up looking through lists of names on the internet, nothing catching our eyes at all. I sighed too many times to count as I grew tired. Loudrix was particularly picky with the names, arguing when a rather nice one was suggested but he thought it was too 'boring' or 'weird.'

Half an hour passed, full of possibilities yet no progress. I grew bored with the alien's indecisive attitude and I soon told him to sit and choose a name himself.

I could have skipped for joy when he said, "I quite like Louis."

"Louis," I tested. "I really like it. Oh! Plus, it's a French name so we could say you're French and that's why your English can sometimes get a little jumbled. Perfect!"

"So, while I am on Earth, I am Louis?" he questioned, just to clarify. I nodded and he muttered, "Louis," under his breath a few times before nodding. "I like it."

"Excellent, now we just need a second name."

"I need two?!" he gasped.

"Well, yeah. That's how people recognise you, duh."

"The beauty of Junito is we all have different names."

"You told me your name was passed down the generations," I stated. 

He looked mad all of a sudden and I just laughed at the stern look upon his face. He didn't like to be corrected.

"What I mean is that it is very rare to have the same name as someone else back home," he said and I nodded.

"Here, we have more than one name. Let's look up French last names."

And so we did. At first, nothing good came up that would match nicely with 'Louis' or seem to interest us both. I couldn't quite believe it when the name Drix appeared in the list and I instantly dove forward to press my finger against the screen.

"Drix!" I said. (A/N: It is honestly a real last name, I was like buzzing when I found it, aha!)

"It sounds like the last of my name!" Loudrix gasped, grinning like a child on Christmas morning. "Louis Drix!"

I beamed at him, knowing he was happy and I was too. "If you want, I can abbreviate 'Louis' to Lou because then it will be Lou-Drix, yeah?"

He looked up at me with wide eyes, a smile stretching ear to ear as he unexpectedly took my hand and shook it rather roughly.

"Thank you, Flora! I love it. I never though it would be quite a good name."

"Honestly? Neither did I," I laughed.

Thank you for reading! x
Alien joke: I'd tell you a joke about space ... but it's too out of this world!
Cazza