First Contact(Closed for Erlind)

[Erlind]

It was strange how different they could be without seeming that way. Tattoos and height seemed the biggest differences you could see though Jori only had one of them.

“I guess I am. I don’t know. I honestly feel like I should freak out or call the government or something, but … I trust you. I don’t know why. I just feel like I should, that I need to. Honestly, I probably trust you right now more than I’ve trusted almost anyone else my whole life and I barely know you.”

David reached out and took Jori’s hand in his.

“This isn’t something you’re doing to me, is it? Some machine to make me want to help you so you can get home easier or something?” He hated saying it, but with how fast his world had turned upside down it wasn’t an unreasonable thing to think. He knew nothing about this girl other than they were born worlds apart and he had been willing to risk a lot to help her. He didn’t want it to be true though.

 

[AngelofDeath]

"No," She shook her head, "Even if I was capable of such manipulation I wouldn't do it. At this point I will only get home once they realize I haven't returned or checked in. My ship is too badly damaged and I don't have what I would need to repair it. So for now I am stuck playing ambassador as well as researcher." Jori was touched by his kindness and his trust. Another reason the other races of the universe had been uneasy about making contact was humanity's level of violence. Not that all of the other races were completely peaceful and pacifists, but humans? Many had speculated that the inhabitants of Earth would wipe themselves out before they even advanced far enough to learn that they weren't alone.

Looking around she asked, "Do you live alone?"

 

[Erlind]

David let go of her hand and shrugged.

“Pretty much. Work keeps me kind of busy. I was actually on my first vacation in ages when your ship almost crashed on me. The only other one that lives here is Smokey.” David could see Jori’s slightly puzzled look.

“Smokey is my cat. Found him as a kitten behind the dumpster at work. I never saw his mom or any other kittens, so I took him home with me. He’s a little gray fuzz ball that’s probably hiding under my dresser at the moment. He’s a coward, but he keeps me company.”

 

[AngelofDeath]

Jori nodded in understanding, "The animals on your planet are very interesting. As are the people." She sipped her coffee. At least she didn't have to worry about anyone sharing his home and what story they would have to make up to explain her being there. The less people that knew about her directly the better. "Do you mind if I ask what you do for work, David?"

If she was going to be staying with him, not that she had other options, she wanted to know more about the human that had saved her life. As she waited for an answer she studied him more. He was tall, and in good shape, which meant he wasn't an idle person. It was obvious David was a kind person and hopefully Jori would be able to repay his kindness to her.

 

[Erlind]

"Yeah sure. I'm not real proud of it though."

David set down his empty coffee cup and went into the living room that was just separated by a counter.

"Its not shameful or anything, just very boring. My company takes in information about court cases, studies on commercial products and how they affect people, and popular trends. We take that information and compile it into graphs, charts, and reports. We sell those to other companies so they have a better idea of what to do with their products, if they can win their own court cases, and how they can make more money."

He plopped back on his couch and with a screech Smokey darted out from under the couch and disappeared into the bedroom.

"I know it sounds boring, but trust me, it gets a lot worse. I hate doing it, but I'm pretty good at it and the money is good."

 

[AngelofDeath]

"Sounds much like my job." Jori joined him on the couch with the remainder of her coffee. "Gather intel on this, research that. Its why I jumped at this assignment. It would get me in the field and put what I know of your planet to good use. Earth," she blushed," has become sort of an obsession with me. When I took my position I spent hours pouring over all research and details. The chance to come here, even if I couldn't actually land was just an opportunity not to be wasted."

"I don't know how long it will take my planet to come for me, so hopefully I won't be imposing on you too much by staying here."

 

[Erlind]

"Well I'm something of a subject matter expert," David said with a smile and patted the seat next to him on the couch.

"Ask me whatever you want. I'm not a historian or scientist, but I do live here. I might know a few things. I don't know what there is to be obsessed about, but I'll answer anything that I can."

 

[AngelofDeath]

"Its, how do I put this without insulting you." Jori thought as she sat down after putting her cup on the counter. "Think of your own nature scientist who dedicate themselves, their whole lives even to their study of animals. Earth is like that for me. I mean," she blushed again, "what I mean to say is that Earth is fascinating. Its one of the few planets that supports life, but is essentially isolated within its own solar system."

Jori laughed, "I'm sorry if I'm making my answer more complicated than it should be. And your help would be great. I mean it may not be the tipping point, but it may help things."

 

[Erlind]

"I see."

He was a bit disappointed, but not truly surprised. It was hard to think that if there really were advanced alien races that they would think of humans as anything but apes. Maybe fun to study and watch, but not real people.

"I might be more help than you think you know. Watching us may just be a hobby for you, but we live our lives down here. We've made true art. We've made terrible wars. We have philosophers, rock stars, and world class chefs. We may not have caught up in the spaceship raygun department, but that doesn't mean we're totally backwards."

He didn't mean to get mad at her, but David didn't like the way she had talked about him.

 

[AngelofDeath]

Jori sighed hearing the tone in his voice, "David, I didn't mean it like that. Yes humans are behind many other races and planets when it comes to the ability to leave your own system. But there are also other races that are comparable to your own species' ancestors. You're not backwards." At least not in her mind. She got up and went to look out one of the windows of his home.

"I'm sorry, I guess my nervousness is getting to me. I'm excited at this opportunity, but at the same time worried, that even if I compile a great report I could loose my job. Even though I didn't plan this, it could still be held against me." She sighed again, maybe she shouldn't have explained things as she did.

"I don't look down on your people. I see a planet with a wealth of opportunity and promise."

 

[Erlind]

David joined her at the window. The world was busy outside, but knowing who he was standing there with made it all seem so trivial. It was hard to think about the entire human race at once and how ready or not ready for the rest of the universe they were.

At the same time though Jori was talking about whether or not she would keep her job. Being excited to be doing something no one of her race had ever done. Studying her favorite subject. He'd gotten mad at her, but really she saw a lot more in his planet than he did sometimes. David's mind was racing and he couldn't stop thinking about everything. They stood there together for a little bit, just being quiet.

Suddenly, David turned in and kissed her. Hands in her hair lips met. It was a short and passionate kiss and then he pulled away. He hadn't even thought about it, just done it. Something underneath everything his mind was racing over had pushed him to it.

David's cheeks flushed, turning red, and he started babbling.

"I'm sorry. I don't even know why I just did that. We're not even the same species. It won't happen again. You don't have to leave."

 

[AngelofDeath]

Jori's next though died on her lips as David grabbed her and kissed her. She actually leaned into him just before he pulled away and started to apologize. Standing there silent and blinking Jori tried to process what had just happened and for a second she thought she might have imagined it thanks to the injuries she'd suffered, but no David had in fact kissed her. The lingering feel of his lips on her and the taste of him where far too clear to be a delusion.

Snapping out of her daze, Jori shook her head slowly, "You don't have to apologize. The last two days have been,...odd." Before the alien woman could think of something else to say, her stomach growled. How long had it been since she'd eaten? Several hours before the crash had happened, no wonder her body was complaining. The idea of being able to study humans up close had made her forget the earlier stirrings of hunger.

 

[Erlind]

He was looking for anything else to suddenly occupy him when David heard her stomach growl. He was pretty hungry himself and coffee wasn’t exactly a meal.

“You must be starving. I’ll get to work on something.”

David quickly decided something a little unique was in order. If Jori really had studied Earth she likely already knew the basic things most people ate. She deserved something different, he just hoped that she liked it.

“Feel free to look around, relax and watch some tv, or um whatever you know,” he called awkwardly from the kitchen. What would someone from another world really want to be doing? She acted pretty normal for an alien, but he still felt like he had no idea how to treat her. Kissing her probably hadn’t been the answer, but it was too late now.

The idea was simple enough, but execution was a bitch especially if he didn’t want to keep her waiting. Frying pans filled the stove as he cooked up hash browns, scrambled eggs, canned chili, and sausage. The apartment quickly filled with the smell of hot breakfast. It took him longer than he meant, but soon David was setting the plates out at the small table in the front room.

“I may have overdone it a little, but I wanted it to be kind and uniquely … Earth I guess. I don’t know what would be unique for you I guess, but I tried.”

Each of their plates was consumed by a bed of hash browns, a layer of sausage, and then scrambled eggs covered with chili and cheese. There was also toast with strawberry jelly and butter set out for it. One plate had a sliced up peach on it, he’d wanted to do something more breakfasty, but hadn’t had anything. Lastly they each had a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee.

“It’s called a slinger. They serve them in diners sometimes. I know it’s a lot of food, but I figured there’d have to be something here you’d like and be able to eat.” He felt kind of silly, but he’d been trying to impress her.

 

[AngelofDeath]

Jori watched as David ducked into the kitchen to make food for them. It was endearing. She could look around later so she decided to watch tv. Television was something almost unique in the universe, the galaxy even. It didn't take her long to figure out how to work the remote and start flipping through channels. The smell of food was soon a distraction and her stomach rumbled again. While the food was complete foreign to her, it smelled so good.

"Thank you," Jori said as David set her plate in front of her. She reached for her bag and pulled out what looked like a small compact. Opening it there were several small green pills. She took out two and swallowed them. "This smells wonderful." She took a sip of the juice and sighed softly. "The pills were to make sure I don't lack for anything nutrients not found on earth," Jori answered his unasked question.

She then dug into the food with abandon, her hunger leading the way. Now and then Jori would let out a small moan. David had done a good job and honestly it was all so new to her. At first Jori tried every separately as much as she could, before seeing that it all worked best together.

 

[Erlind]

They had both been pretty hungry and it wasn't long before most of the food was gone.

"I'm glad you liked it all. I wasn't sure what you would like, honestly."

"I was taking some time off work when I found you. I could show you the city some if you'd like. I don't really have the money to travel the world or anything, but there is plenty to see in Seattle. What kind of things do you want to see?"

 

[AngelofDeath]

Jori's eyes lit up at the idea of going out. "Um anything, everything. I mean I really don't have an idea of where to start." She thought for a second, "Treat me like any other, tourist. Take me some place that most people who visit without having someone to show them around, wouldn't normally see." Even though she was full, David's suggestion had given her a second burst of energy. She looked at what she was wearing, "Do I look ok?" Jori had only done a bit of research into current human fashion. Hopefully her clothing wouldn't draw too much attention.