Julian Meyer's Story

Toddlk Lorav found that he could not, in fact, last very long without something to do. The floor soon grew dull, as did staring at the door, when there were other matters for him to take care of. For starters, Earth was cold. He had realized that the moment that he had stepped onto this planet's crust, but he had imagined the further down they went, the warmer it would have got. Coming from an unearthly desert community, the 100-degree weather was nothing to him. In fact, it caused him to go as far as to rip the sheets off of the bottom bunk and huddle under the blankets in a pile upon the floor.

However, the alien did not hesitate to pop out of his small fort at the sound of the opening door, eager to greet whoever might be entering the room. He expected his human partner and even prepared his greeting, but found that this was not the case. Standing before him was yet another human in a lab coat (how many were running around this place?), only this time the being appearing to be female. "Eh?" grunted the smaller life-form, lost as to why the woman had come to see him.

"Todd-lick Lorav?" she asked, unaware of how incorrectly she was pronouncing the boy's name. Todd, not offended by this, merely nodded in response, standing up from his position on the floor, allowing the blanket to slide off of his shoulders and onto the ground. The girl seemed nervous, placing a hand on the back of her neck as she blushed and attempted to continue speaking. "I- um, we-... There's been a mistake with your rooming situation and we've placed you in the incorrect area. I'm so sorry, sir." She spat out her words with an impressive speed, so fast that the alien in front of her had to take a moment so that he could figure out exactly what he had just heard. Her expression practically screamed "Please, don't get upset with me and dissect my brain!", but Todd supposed that that couldn't be helped.

Trying to soothe the woman's anxiety, Todd smiled brightly. "Okay! he said cheerfully. However, his thoughts quickly changed, as he looked down at the mess he had made with the blanket that had turned out not to be his. Not understanding exactly how to make a bed, Todd dragged the blanket back to its original spot on the bottom bunk and tossed it back on, patting it slightly in a futile attempt to straighten it, giving up on his mission and instead gathering his belongings. The woman seemed slightly disturbed with his antics, but, when he was finished, opened the door for him none the less. "Thank you, Honn!" he said, his last word translating to "Miss" in his own language. Todd still did not understand English honorifics, or even human honorifics for that matter, so he used Fleiohirian dialect instead. The woman, however, was dumbfounded by this and simply stared at him. Eager to leave the situation, she simply pointed at the door that must have been Todd's new room. "You might want to knock," was all she said before vanishing down the stairwell.

Todd sighed. The poor woman had been a complete nervous wreck, and probably completely unaware of the fact that he could sense her horrified emotions. He hoped that his partner, whenever it was that they met, would not be as intimidated. It seemed funny that Toddlk Lorav, the strange empathic kid that was beat up all throughout his high-school experience, was not scaring human scientists.

But, Todd didn't dwell any longer on his thoughts, as he now stood in front of the door he had been directed toward. It had two names plastered upon its facade, neither of which belonged to the blonde alien. He had been told to knock, but that was a problem as he had never knocked upon a door before. He could only guess as to how he was supposed to carry out the odd act. So, in his best attempt at knocking, Todd slapped the door with the palm of his hand, an immediate stinging sensation there to alert him that he had done it wrong. If one looked closely, they could catch the glare Todd sent at the inanimate object as he opened it, throwing the matter behind him.

With a large, bright grin, the alien strolled into the room. "Hello! I-" However excited he may have been, Todd's words were quickly brought to a halt as he stared at the vacant room. He sighed, figuring he had injured his hand for nothing. Still, not all hope was lost, as another person's luggage had been thrown onto the top part of the conjoint beds, a contraption Toddlk found to be quite dangerous looking. Learning from the human's example, Todd threw his own belongings into the bunk below, not before pulling the blanket off and wrapping it around his shoulders. Unknowing of what exactly to do, the creature plopped himself down on the lower bed, careful not to bump his head, closed his eyes and took a deep gulp of the unfamiliar air. He felt that he was going to like this Earth, and he was one to trust his gut.