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 Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 5:54 pm
Jack led Quinn to his condo. He reintroduced Quinn and Roxy. Showed Quinn the bathroom. Got him a towel and a change of clothes. Taught him how to use the shower. Showed him where the bandages were if he needed to patch up his leg.
Then he retreated to the kitchen and stared into his refrigerator for a few minutes, trying to figure out what he should make that wouldn’t be too harsh on Quinn’s stomach. Soup, maybe? Did he even have any? How long did it take to make from scratch? Maybe they should have stopped to grab some food on the way. Jack wasn’t the best cook.
He sighed and shut the refrigerator door without taking anything out. From his pocket, Jack grabbed his phone. He called one of the only people who seemed like they might know what to do in this situation.
“Dude, I think I found an alien,” Jack said once Chris picked up. “Like, he doesn’t look like an alien. But he’s talking weird and he’s definitely a Senshi, but he has no idea what youma are doing on Earth and he’s just been hiding in a bush in the park near my place. I might’ve brought him home. Roxy seems to like him so I don’t think he’s a threat, but also, dude… aliens.”
Maybe he was wrong. Maybe all this war stuff had gone to his head. Like, if magic was real, then aliens could be, too, right?
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 5:55 pm
Whatever Chris had expected from Jack’s phone call, he wasn’t sure he could have guessed that Jack would have not just found an alien (or so he claimed), but brought him back to his place.
“Oh,” he said with a frown as he pushed himself off the couch so he wouldn’t talk too loudly around the children. He gave Paris a look that clearly said something was up, and moved out to the kitchen when he was certain a child wouldn’t try to trip him.
“Some have been showing up in the last year or so,” he said, wincing a little because he was pretty sure he and Paris didn’t cover aliens when they talked to Jack before.
“There’s a couple different kinds that we know of. Other than Senshi that have been stuck on their worlds for the past thousand years, there are Velencians. They’re usually really tall. Got pointy ears and, uh, colorful skin. But not bright like Avatar. More pastel. Unless they’re in disguise then I guess they can look however they want.”
He could only assume they were disguising themselves if they were staying on Earth.
“We know, uh… a few of the Senshi that have been stuck on their worlds, though. So you found one? They were hiding in a bush? It’s freezing outside,” Chris commented in concern. Unless, he supposed, they were like Tyr who seemed to enjoy the cold.
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 5:57 pm
“Dude, what?”
There were more aliens? Thousand year old aliens and Avatar aliens and… holy s**t, Jack really had found an alien!
Maybe. There was still the possibility that Quinn was dicking around or high or crazy or something. Quinn didn’t exactly seem like a very alien name. On the contrary, it was a good Earth name. Definitely the type to blend in. It wouldn’t seem odd.
“Yeah, I brought him back to my place ‘cause it’s cold and he’s got nothing, just some clothes that definitely don’t suit the weather. Barely more than shorts and sandals. His power’s, like, water or something. I don’t know, he’s not very talkative. Suspicious guy, kinda feisty.”
Jack scratched fingers through his beard, then shoved some of his hair off of his forehead. He moved over to the pantry to look inside but had no more success there.
“How does someone live for a thousand years? He doesn’t look a day over twenty. Dude, that’s wild, can aliens really live that long?”
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 6:02 pm
“We’re not really sure how anyone could live that long,” Chris frowned as he leaned against the counter, phone to his ear. He could see the living room from where he was standing. He wanted to make sure Paris didn’t suddenly need help with children who were probably going to get overtired if they stayed up much later.
“We know of at least one who was put into some kind of stasis. Slept through the hundreds of years that passed since the Fall. There are others who were awake the whole time. How they survived is even more of a mystery, but they did. Michael’s husband is one of them. We helped get rid of the Chaos on his world this past October.”
It was only a matter of time before Jack got to meet Devyn, Eld, and Tyr anyway. There was no point in keeping those kinds of secrets from him now that he was in the mix of it all.
“What’s his name? Maybe Paris knows him. Or… well, knew him,” he corrected, because memories were tricky. “I wouldn’t be very talkative either, Jack. You’re kind of suspicious, yourself.”
He was just teasing of course. Had to give it back to Jack for everything he put Chris through.
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 6:05 pm
“Dude...”
Chris’s brother was married to an alien?! That was wild. Completely insane. ******** crazy. Only in Jack’s wildest dreams had he ever thought aliens might be real, let alone that they lived among the people of Earth, got married to them and s**t. If he was a more skeptical person, he’d think Chris was pulling his leg, but Jack had already taken most of this war stuff in stride. Chris wasn’t the type to take a joke that far anyway. Such a goody two shoes.
So. Quinn. An alien. The potential was growing by the second.
“That’s what I meant, though,” he continued, even though he knew Chris was teasing. “I’m not suspicious of him, even though, I mean, I guess he could rob me blind, but he’s suspicious of me, like I’m the weirdo. Anyway he says his name’s Encela-something. Incel? Damn, that’s awkward. Goes by Quinn. I mentioned you and Paris by your magical names and he didn’t seem to recognize either of you.”
Jack shut the pantry when it yielded no better results.
“Should I do anything?” he asked. “Aside from getting him clean and fed, I mean. Just… tell him what’s going on? Figure out a way to get him back to where he belongs? If he belongs somewhere else. I kinda didn’t clarify, in case Hey, I think you’re an alien came across weird.”
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 6:09 pm
“You can be pretty weird,” Chris confirmed, but it was all in good nature. The fact that this Quinn person didn’t recognize him or Ganymede wasn’t too concerning. There were hundreds and hundreds of Senshi and Knights. There was no reason to think that they would be recognized, but it was a better chance than none.
“Depends on what you plan on saying. Not many people take the news that everyone they’d ever known and loved is long dead and it’s been a thousand years since they had contact with anyone outside of their world. At least from how I understand it. Devyn, Michael’s husband, didn’t take the news too well.”
Not that he blamed any of them. He would be pretty upset too if his whole life was basically wiped of everyone he ever knew.
“Depending on how long he’s been on Earth, he might not be able to go back to his world. He’ll need a Mauvian to give him a phone so he can go back and then back to Earth. I can talk to Paris about if we’ve got room for anyone else but, uh… we’re already pretty full,” he said, but felt guilty and shook his head.
“We’ll figure something out if we have to. You’re definitely not obligated to make sure he’s taken care of or anything like that.”
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 6:35 pm
“Yikes…”
Yeah, okay, so he might have to be delicate when they had that conversation. Jack hadn’t thought about what such an unnaturally long lifespan would mean. (Then again, he hadn’t had the chance to think about it, seeing as he’d only learned about the issue today. Right now. This very second.)
Being a magical superhero was way weirder than he’d thought.
“Who knew we’d be able to carry around space travel in our pocket,” Jack said.
He wished he could use a space travel phone, but all he got was a ring. Talk about a bummer, even with the potential for upgrades.
“Okay, so... Great. This is cool. I can do this. Don’t worry about finding room for him, I’ve got space here. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t crazy or anything, thinking he’s not from here. I’ll figure out what he knows and what he doesn’t, and get him up to speed. Don’t be surprised if I text you a bunch of weird questions. Weirder than usual, anyway. s**t, I’ve gotta find something to feed him. I guess I can get something delivered.”
It wasn’t too late. There should still be some decent places open. Better than fast food. Jack didn’t think McDonald’s would make a great Welcome to Earth meal.
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 6:42 pm
“You’ll be fine,” Chris said, hoping he sounded as encouraging as Jack needed him to be. “We don’t know how many more Senshi might show up. It seems like there’s been just a few at a time.”
And hopefully they didn’t end up alone in the streets for the Negaverse to pick up.
“Text me or call me all you want. Or if you need me to come over I can. Well. I mean, let me check with Paris first. I think she’ll be okay if I do, but I don’t want to just run out without making sure,” he explained, not sure if Paris was trying to overhear the conversation, or if she was just ignoring it completely.
“At some point he could come over and meet some of the other aliens. Might be nice to know he’s not alone. You can come over, too, of course.”
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 6:45 pm
“Nah, I just thought I’d toss him on a bus and see if he can make his own way there,” Jack joked. “Might be fun for him, like an adventure.”
He stared around his kitchen like he was searching for inspiration. Other than some bananas on the counter and some evidence of that morning’s coffee, he didn’t have much to pick from. He was definitely going to have to change that if he planned on having company for a while.
He didn’t plan on it. It was just a possibility. There was no telling what Quinn might want. Maybe he’d rather leave. Maybe he’d want one of those space travel phones as soon as possible, so he could get back to his own world.
Right. Okay. Yup, this was fine.
“Okay, sweet. Cool, cool, cool. Thanks, man, I’ll let you go.”
They said their goodbyes. Jack took a deep breath and let it out on a heavy sigh.
So. Aliens.
Okay.
Jack laughed, breathed again, and said, “Dude...”
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