PEARL

Conflicting emotions swirled in my gut. Half of me was apprehensive and excited at the prospect of being somewhere new, and the other half couldn't stop mulling over what he said. My piss-poor mood leaked into my lackluster response.

"Yup."

I popped my lips on the 'p'.

Just stop thinking about it for now. Broach the topic with him again a little later.

I hunched my shoulders. It was unusual for me to be so... timid. Afraid. I wasn't like this. What was going on with me?

It occurred to me I didn't know his name. I was about to ask—yet another question added to my list of others—but he gave me a look I wasn't able to comprehend, throwing me off track.

"I will ensure that you reach your residence safely. I will be back shortly."

I gave him a thumbs up. He didn't acknowledge it. His muscles rippled underneath his clothing as he pulled the door open, disappearing through it. If the situation would have been different, and he would have been human, I would have asked him for his number, because wow.

Just a fever dream, I reminded myself, licking my lips. But it's okay to fantasize a little, right?

Maybe not, though. He was entirely too intimidating and... straightforward. I could take a hint; the jacked alien didn't seem to think much of me.

I wondered what it would take to change that.

When he reappeared, a little zing of excitement trilled up my spine at the thought of seeing a new space. I could only hope it wasn't as bland as this one. I waved at him, knowing I wouldn't receive any confirmation of my doing so, but I was trying to be polite.

Trying to be a better human.

"It is time for you to move into your new area. Come closer to me."

I sucked in a sharp breath and stood. My legs were limp like noodles, and my knees shook. Maybe it had something to do with his demand—come closer to me. Or maybe it was the mess of emotions in my belly, or everything it took to get here.

Shit, maybe it was the whole combination.

When I didn't move, he approached, and I suddenly felt like prey. Warm tingles ran from shoulder blade to shoulder blade. My visceral response to him intrigued me too much to ask him what he was doing.

His deep voice made my shoulders vibrate. "It is important that you cannot see when you are transported."

"Why can't I see?"

"It may be frightening. In the future, you will see our technologies. You may also hear sounds that are loud. You are safe, and you will remain unharmed. I will be right behind you, guiding you."

A snort left me. "You think I would be afraid of crazy-looking machinery?"

What did I look like, a crybaby? He brought me here to learn, didn't he?

"It would not be prudent for you to faint again." He folded his hands patiently. "You should satiate your curiosity another day after you rest. The term machinery would make our technologies rather antiquated. I could take your sight away from you myself, but that might—"

"No. Please, don't blind me." I bit my lip. "And I get it. Rest first, then pry."

"Precisely."

I lifted my chin, trying to appear brave, but I got what he meant. They were leagues above us technologically speaking when they fabricated us. I can only imagine what it looked like now—probably not like machinery. My head was still sort of fuzzy, too, so maybe it would be too much to take in.

Priority number one was getting rest in a place that wasn't like this.

"Well, I hate to tell you this, but I don't think I can walk." My legs were like jelly. Usually, I wasn't such a nervous person. My nerves were understandably frayed as of late. "Got a wheelchair?"

"I will carry you."

My heart raced. Suddenly, I felt like hyperventilating. Carry me? My mouth went dry, and I tried to keep the shock off my face. To make light of what he was offering, my knee-jerk reaction was to use humor. Despite my nerves, I muttered, "Come to sweep me off my feet then, alien prince?"

He made a face that looked like he tasted something bad.

I almost smiled.

Almost.

He spoke in a clipped voice, like a parent would to their child, and I didn't like it. "If you are frightened of me, you need to walk."

"Wait, wait!" I shook my head, trying to put space between us, and nearly tripped over my own feet. He was still standing beside me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. "Give me a few minutes?"

"No. You must arrive at your dwelling in approximately ten minutes measured in your time."

My time? I guess they didn't have the same timekeeping as we did. I was about to tell him to hold on, but he swept me off my feet in one fluid motion and raised me incredibly high off the ground.

Around seven feet off the ground.

Instead of protesting his hold and flailing around, I strangely relaxed. My heartbeat, which drummed in my ears before, slowed to a normal pace. He cradled me to his chest—his white hair spilling over my torso and down. His arms were as hard and strong as iron. He was warm, too, and giving off that lovely, petrichor scent that eased some of my dizziness.

Hmm.

"Are you always this pushy?" I growled. "I know they assigned you to help me, but damn."

I sounded mad, but I didn't actually mind whatever was happening. Maybe the prospect of being carried by an alien should scare me, but it didn't. I poked his arm, curious. Felt like an arm, looked like an arm. Very muscular and hard. Interesting.

He gave what looked to be a shrug, but I wasn't sure. "It is in our nature to be rather direct."

"You can say that again," I mused, poking his massive arm once more.

"It is in our nature to be rather direct. Stop prodding me with your fingers."

I grunted. I had a feeling he was fucking with me and just repeated himself on purpose. There was no way he was that naïve.

That meant he had a sense of humor, right? I put this theory to the test, my eyes narrowing wickedly. "Or else what?"

"Or else I will let go of you."

Well, that was a pretty straightforward answer. "You wouldn't."

"I'm amazed by your confidence in that assumption."

I paled, becoming rigid in his hold. I looked down. It wouldn't be too terrible of a drop, but I'd land right on my ass, which would no doubt be painful. Maybe you should stop while you're ahead, Pearl.

I pressed my lips together and said nothing.

"Are you frightened?" he asked, surprising me. "I only ask because, for once, you are quiet."

Wow, what a backhanded observation.

"So long as you don't actually drop me. You know I was kidding, right?"

"I will not drop you. If you further irritate me, it may become more tempting."

Oh, okay, so he wasn't kidding. Noted.

Sighing, I held onto him tighter. "You're lucky, I guess. If any guy tried to pick me up like this back on Earth, I'd kick them right in the teeth."

His beautiful face looked amused somehow. "Close your eyes."

I obeyed, letting my eyes close. I didn't know what else to do with my arms, so I wrapped them around his muscular neck when he walked. Was that too intimate?

Maybe too intimate and the wrong move, because I invited his warmness with too much enthusiasm. I clung to him and hid in his hair at the crook of his neck as odd emotions warred for space in my chest. Why does he have to smell so good?

How long had it been since I touched another person? He was warm and real for once, regardless if he was inhuman. I didn't care that he was an alien, or that he was as irritating to me as I was to him.

I had been isolated and alone for far too long. I focused on the sway of my body with each step he took. My eyes stung with fresh tears. I don't want to be alone. They are just going to put me on a planet, shove a few books at me, and leave me to get old and die.

A lump formed in my throat.

His pace slowed. "Why do you display affection?"

I moved my arms, embarrassed. My reaction to his hold surprised me, too. There was something pulling at me towards him; to get closer, to know more, like a gravitational force, but it wasn't affectionate. If anything, it was almost... desperate.

My face was on fire. "I'm not. Sorry."

I squeezed my eyes tighter and swallowed the excess saliva in my mouth.

"Almost there?" I managed to ask. I hadn't heard any strange noises... yet.

"Almost. You will welcome this fresh change."

"You sound so sure of that."

"If my analysis of your character is wrong about this, I would be surprised."

Character analysis?

Then I heard it—a loud, guttural growling sound followed by a high-pitched whine. Even though my eyes were closed, I could tell the surrounding area was impossibly bright, given the darkness behind my eyelids had turned a dusty grey.

A few minutes of this ensued before it all stopped. My skin warmed. What felt like a breeze caressed my hair. I inhaled. The lungful of air made me alert, prickling at my senses, coaxing me out of my fatigued state. More oxygen, maybe?

I wasn't a scientist, so I didn't know for sure, but I was suddenly very present.

"It's warm." I sighed at the liveness of it. "Feels nice."

I hadn't felt the sun in so long, and this reminded me of it...

My bottom lip trembled. I took a lot of things for granted. Touch, clean air, warmth, a room that didn't smell like piss...

His voice was deeper than usual. "The sun."

The sun?

"You can open your eyes if you wish."

I opened my eyes, turning my face away from his neck. Immediately, my eyes watered at the light. I looked up, and saw, with stunned silence, that the sun was dark in color, yet so bright that it was hard to look at.

My sun was a searing whitish-yellow. This one was a muted orange.

My mouth popped open in awe.

The surrounding light was strangely dim. There was foliage both to my left and right, and we were walking along what appeared to be a gravel path. The gravel looked different, too—instead of hard rocks, the pebbles were porous in nature, like a sponge. They reminded me of some subtypes of volcanic rock.

The foliage was off. It was not green, but a dusty, dark purple, sporting things that looked like grass and leaves, or both, I wasn't sure. Definitely not things that had chlorophyll. They possessed a wild, odd geometry to them, as if nature spun a wild tale of what it wanted them to be, and they gladly followed.

My heart slammed in my chest as I took everything in. The wind stirred gently. My hair stuck out around me in weird ways, as did his. The air seemed thicker somehow. Dense.

I was not on Earth. That much was blatantly obvious. My heart ached for my sketchpad, the need to draw this making my fingers twitch.

"A K-type main-sequence star," he told me, gazing up at the sky. The sky was also a dusky purple, tapering into a near black at the horizon. "Or an orange dwarf. Much like the sun you are used to at home. This is what human scientists call it."

I shrugged. "I'm unfamiliar with those terms, but fascinating."

Hills dotted the horizon. I wished, for a moment, that he would put me down so I could explore this strange world. This was unfathomable. This was beautiful.

"Amazing," I told him. "I can't believe I am on a different planet."

"I imagine you have many questions."

"Not right now, no. I just want to take it all in."

He kept walking, and I was thankful.

I got a good look at something that I thought might have been a tree—a gangly, tall piece of nature with tall arms stretching to the sky like it wanted to scrape off the thick clouds. My breath hitched. He looked down at me, his eyes scanning my face. For a moment, he looked... impressed?

He kept walking. "If you look ahead, you will see what looks like a recognizable dwelling to you. Can you see that far?"

I nodded.

We approached what looked like a giant silver bubble. The bizarre sunlight gleamed off the surface. The front had two doors. There was even a window. There weren't any flowerbeds or anything that signaled a cozy, comforting space, but it was interesting nevertheless.

I was getting close enough to see what was inside, but he stopped. "I am going to set you down. Are you able to stand?"

"I think so?"

He put me back on my feet, and my stomach flipped at the sudden loss of physical contact. I fixed my face before he saw anything amiss.

I walked towards the dwelling, eyes ever watching my surroundings. I was sure my face was full of wonder. I didn't want to go inside. Nature surrounded me. That meant something—even if this nature was new and unusual.

The dense air carried with it what looked like puffs of seeds. I yearned to grab one and touch it to see if it was as soft as it looked. He was right behind me. I took a step back, almost bumping into him.

His next words had me deflating. "I will go now. You must not stay out here for too long."

"Why?" I protested, stubbornly planting my feet into the odd dirt in case he picked me up again. "But it's beautiful out here. I've been in tiny, boring rooms for so long. How about just thirty minutes?"

"No. Radiation. The sun."

Oh.

I frowned, turning around. "But our sun emits radiation, too."

The ability to argue left as I looked at him. His white hair nearly glowed from the orange light the sun produced, making it appear as though it was on fire. The angular features of his face were even more apparent in this lighting, striking and deadly looking. He looked like... like a god.

Technically speaking, wasn't he one?

My heart hammered in my chest as I stood there, gaping at him. Fucking hormones, dude.

He pointed up with a slender finder, the corner of his mouth twitching. "The magnitude of radiation emitted from this sun, in particular, is dangerous for you. Do as I say."

Oh. Radiation, the sun, whatever he just said. I guess I had to listen because his gaze was getting quite intense. He was as serious as a heartbeat.

I grunted, shaking my head, trying to pull myself together. "As long as you come inside with me and get me used to this new place. You can't just boot me now. I have a lot of questions. Besides, what do you have going on that is so important?"

"Quite a lot of things, like exploring a universe as vast as your questioning." 

I snorted. 

I could have sworn he was gritting his teeth. Was I really that hard to stand? "Please? Five minutes."

"You are annoyingly persistent, aren't you?"

"What gave you that idea? My character analysis? Journalists are usually persistent."

He was quiet, his gaze fixed on me. He was clearly irritated and wanted to tell me no. I cleared my throat. "I'm not that bad, I promise. Look. Five minutes. I just—"

"Fine. Get inside."