Lena was quick and found her way back to Finn's room before him. She was wrapped into a white towel and stood dripping in front of the window, her face reflecting on the glass. She felt reborn; young and healthy. She considered herself to be more awake but the shadows under her eyes argued that state of mind.

The image of herself left her focus, and the city behind it became crisp and clear. Though absolutely impressed by the buildings and streets, and the million different lights that were decorating it like a Christmas tree, it was a long way down to the ground and Lena urged to step away from the window at once. She knew she couldn't fall, but three feet of distance made her feel much safer for reasons she didn't understand.

Finn was still gone. Lena walked over to his bed, looking over the velvety cover and fluffed up pillows. The bed was placed in a corner connecting the glass wall with a gray wall.

On her tippy toes, she looked over the edge of the bed, down to the street again, wondering how Finn could sleep soundly in such ridiculous heights.

She had the idea to kill some time by looking at the books on Finn's shelf, however, something on the nightstand caught her eyes and kept them captive. It was a photo. Lena picked it up to have a closer look.

She instantly knew that the girl with the shiny blond hair falling down on her chest was Nitha. She was hugged from behind. From Finn. And both were wearing their braided bracelets. His was black, hers light blue. They were somewhere in nature and the setting sun in the background gilded Nitha's hair even more.

Lena heard a noise outside the door and promptly returned the photo to its former position. Looking guilty of something, she turned away and pretended to be examining the first thing in reach; a withered potted succulent.

Finn walked in, barefoot, his hair hanging down instead of going up as usual.

"Sorry!" he cried and immediately covered his eyes. "I wasn't thinking! I forgot you could be in here!"

His sudden squeak almost made her drop the plant. "You don't have to be sorry," she said, bemused. "My clothes are dirty so I wanted to ask if you have anything I can wear."

Finn looked stiff and uncomfortable, despite the sweatpants and a t-shirt he was wearing, neither of which had color or the iconic KSP emblem; they must have been his own.

Up to the bottom of his neck reached a large white Band-Aid, peeking from beneath the black shirt. It covered most of his right shoulder.

"Yes—um—" Finn looked like a lost puppy, turning, in search of his own tail. His hand still blocking his vision, he did not know where to go or what to do. His face looked hot enough to cook a sunny-side-up egg on it. "You can wear one of my hoodies."

"Thank you," said Lena and stifled a titter. His hectic walk to the closet amused her, and when he nearly tripped over his backpack, she burst into laughter.

While Finn was searching his closet for something that could fit her, Lena's eyes kept darting down to make sure the towel was covering her skin. She took the hoodie and threw it over. It was big enough to hide everything from her thighs up. "Thank you," she said again.

"I'll go do laundry for us," announced Finn with a formal voice, still hiding his eyes. "Make yourself at home."

He left the room gladly. And there she stood with those words echoing in her head once more. Home.

Lena tried not to look at the photo a second time and focused on the diplomas at the wall to distract her unwelcoming thoughts and calm her hammering heart. Finn placed first on many science competitions, quizzes, trials over knowledge, and so-called brain tournaments. He had a neat collection of trophies and medals as well. Two golden ones, one out of glass, and another two of metal throned on the top of a shelf, and more awards were sitting in a cardboard box in the far corner of the room, looking as though each was tossed to land in that box without the faintest care over their value.

Her eyes were pulled by the photograph like a magnet but she could resist the temptation and read the titles of his concise book collections instead. She was surprised that none of them were science-related. There were romance and fantasy novels but nothing that was non-fiction, not even science fiction found a place on his shelf.

By then, Finn had returned, his cheeks back to a normal tan. "So," he said, walking up to the shelves to stand parallel to Lena. "This is strange."

"Why?" she said but did not necessarily disagree. She did, however, want to hear his reasons to find out whether they were the same as hers, but they weren't.

"You're sort of an alien."

"What?" she gasped, offended.

Finn twitched. "Hold on—"

    "Green and slimy, am I?"

    "No no, let me explain!" She was clearly upset but Finn suddenly cried from laughter.

"What's funny?" she asked, her confidence going down like a sinking ship.

"I'm sorry!" he guffawed and tried to breathe between his laughter. "I don't even know why I'm laughing."

Lena's emotions were negated when she realized he wasn't making fun of her. Finn's happiness was erupting and he himself had no control over it. With a very subtle smile, she remained confused and waited for his laughter to end.

When he finally got a hold of himself, he wheezed and said, "I'm sorry. Maybe I hit my head during the landing and this is all just a dream."

"A nightmare, maybe," she muttered toward her shoulder.

"No! Far away from that! A very bizarre dream, sure, but a good one nevertheless. I'm so happy that you're here."

"You are? So, by 'strange' you don't mean—"

"Can you blame me for calling it strange? You are from Pluviam!" He grinned for no reason. "And now you're on Kepler! And we were on two other planets! Well technically one, but you know what I mean. It's a wonder that we're still breathing!"

Finn did not hold back. He was beyond excited. But about what? They were still not safe and had not yet found the lost ship, nor its passengers.

"By the way," he said, wiping tears of joy, "by definition, an alien is any non-citizen. That's just a term we use."

"You seem happy," she said.

"I'm alive! I'm home—with you. How couldn't I be happy? I'm sorry, am I freaking you out?"

"No," she answered quickly. "Please. Let it all out." She stepped back as if she expected him to explode like dynamite.

"I'm done," one more giggle was stifled, "I'm done."

Lena giggled too after they had been standing in silence for a few seconds. Finn's stomach was reacting with a party of fluttering tickles.

"That hoodie—" he said, making Lena look at herself, "I don't think I can ever wear it again."

"What? Why?"

"You've worn it now."

"Yeah. So what?"

"It looks so much better on you."

"Har-har."

    "No really, it does. I can't ever live up to that standard. That hoodie is now used to being worn by you. Treat it like your own child." Finn had to laugh at his own silliness.

    Silence hit anew.

"So, what now?" asked Lena to end the awkward assembly in his room.

    "Are you hungry?"

    "No."

    "Tired?"

    She asked herself the same question. "Yeah, maybe. Should we sleep? How long do nights last on Kepler?"

    "Its rotation duration is nearly identical to that of Pluviam."

    "Then yes, maybe we should sleep."

    "Right now? Alright, sure, we'll do that. Unfortunately, we don't have a guest bedroom."

    "How dare you," she teased, "all this space and no room for guests. You should be ashamed."

    "I know, I know," he went along with her joke. "Horrible habit of us: We build these enormous houses and leave no room for our visitors. Shame on me. Go ahead, call the patrol. Let them take me to Pluviam. Let me pay for my sins. Oh, how I can't stand the look of myself! Oh!"

    Lena boxed him lightly to make him stop. If from all their time together, all the laughter were piled together, it would make up not half of what they laughed in those few minutes goofing around.

    "But if you'd let me finish," Finn breathed as if he had run a marathon, his abs aching slightly, "You can take my bed. I'll sleep on the couch."

    "No way," she protested.

    Assuming that Lena was joking, Finn replied, "You had Yurie's couch all to yourself. The least you can do is leave me my own sofa."

    "Why sleep separated at all?" she asked, nonplussed and with a tone of sincerity in her voice. "Your bed is big enough for two."

    Finn's cheeks were glowing afresh. He stuttered, "Yeah, but——but you, um——uh—"

"I don't understand. What's wrong with the bed?" Her voice was shrinking in volume. "We can both sleep on the sofa if you want. I just don't want to be alone. You know that."

    "Nothing can hurt you here. And I'm not that far away."

    She didn't know what else to say. It was like Demeter all over again. How could she make him understand that she wanted him to stay with her?

"Do you want to be alone?" she asked, fearing the answer.

    "No! Of course not, but I just don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

    "Why would I be uncomfortable? Both your bed and sofa look ten times cozier than anything we've ever slept on. Or I, at least."

    "I didn't mean that by uncomfortable—I—I meant—you and I—actually, it doesn't matter what I meant."

"You're acting so strange tonight."

"Yes, I agree." A smile slunk into Finn's face. To Lena, it may have appeared to be ordinary to sleep in one bed with Finn, but to him, it was more personal than that. Be that as it may, he preferred staying close to her and suggested to share the sofa, as she had proposed. "I think I just need a good night's sleep. Tomorrow I'll act normal again. Let's go downstairs, okay?"