"Hey, Luna? Do you mind if I ask you a couple of things about yourself?" Alan asks me as we're finishing up the last of our meals and preparing to go back to his apartment. "I don't want to sound like a jerk, but I've never met an alien before in real life, and I have like a million questions that I want to ask you."

I swallow the last of my milkshake and look up at him with a twinge of trepidation. Although Alan had proven to be reliable so far and bandaged all my wounds, years of training made me question whether it was wise to reveal all of my secrets to him so early on.

Of course, he had also provided me with food and clothing without any complaints and was eager to share information about himself and his connection with his former mate, Noah. But he had no idea that I'd originally come to scope out a planet for a potential invasion in the future.

This thought immediately soured the burr-garr in my stomach.

I envisioned the fury on Alan's face when he discovered that I was an invader for the Tau army, the complete contempt he would feel for me once he realized what I was. Because of this, I knew I could never tell him the real reason why I had been sent on such a long voyage.

"You have been quite accommodating, Alan. Not many strangers would take in someone like me and then feed them a variety of oily and delectable foods that might potentially kill me should I eat enough of them." I reply and gesture towards him with my empty milkshake cup, "Because of that kindness, I do not mind answering your questions at all."

"Oh! Cool!" Alan perks up and then almost immediately sinks down in his seat and frowns, his eyebrows lowering. "Shit. What the hell should I ask you first? My mind's gone blank."

Alan's interest in finding out more about me makes me grin. He was even more attractive when he seemed confused, which shouldn't have been possible given that I was Tau and he was an Earthling, both of us from two different worlds.

"Okay," Alan sighs finally. "What planet are you from, and how old are you? I can't really tell because you're kind of small and all pink and stuff, but you talk like an old man. I just figured that if you're over a thousand years old like Yoda, you might be able to teach me how to use the force, read minds, or something cool like that."

"I do not know who this Yoda figure is, but I surely exceed him in rotations at this point," I reply, staring shyly down at my empty cup. "My planet is named Tau-Ceti; it exists in a galaxy on the other side of the universe, far beyond what you humans can comprehend. I suppose age becomes irrelevant when you travel that long and that far."

"That's probably the coolest thing I've ever heard." Alan studies me, completely engrossed in what I am telling him. He was like a young Tau, listening to the bloody tales of the Warrior Noor for the first time. "Here's another question. What do you want me to call you? Luna or Amir?"

This question puzzles me.

Alan seemed to be suggesting that I had the option to select a different name, even though my parents had given me one long before I even knew who or what I was. But I didn't know any human names or how they worked. Luna and Amir were my birth parent's names. Ishmael was the name the Tau had given me when I arrived on the planet.

"Well," I begin, a bit nervous when I meet eyes with Alan once more. "You've referred to me as Honey twice since we've met. I seem to enjoy that name greatly."

Alan seems to turn several shades of bright red on the spot. "That...um..." He stumbles for a response. "That's just a thing I call people without thinking about it. I didn't mean anything by it." He says, "It's not like I think you're hot or anything like that."

"Why would I be hot, Alan? It's the perfect temperature here in Roswell." I answer, genuinely not understanding what he was saying. "I plan on obtaining a human form in the future to answer your question. Will you refer to me as Honey when I'm around Earthlings? I feel as if keeping my Tau form and my human form separate might benefit me in the long run."

Alan's face softens, and his eyes seem to turn a rich shade of fiery gold.

"Yeah," he replies quietly, "I don't mind doing that for you."

I smile when he leans forward and turns on his transportation device to take us home. It felt as if I'd learned so much and yet nothing about Alan in the short time we'd dined together, and I was eager to find out more about him and the city where I'd landed. I assumed it was the end of our conversation; we would go home to rest and awaken in the morning.

Rather, for reasons that escape me, something strange happens. On the drive home, Alan and I continued to converse and ask each other questions at a rapid-fire pace, as if we were afraid of running out of time and being pulled apart. We were strangers, but it seemed effortless to converse with him, as though I had known him for many, many rotations.

"Do you have any siblings, Alan?"

"I have a baby sister who helps me run the bakery; her name's Kiki. What about you?"

"I'm not sure; my planet doesn't keep track of birth records, but it's entirely possible."

"So you have a literal star for a heart."

"It is indeed a small celestial object that rotates and burns extremely hot inside me."

Both Alan and I barely realize that he's pulled into his apartment until we get there and he parks the car, bringing us to a halt, much to both of our surprise when we look around and then laugh.

"I had an amazing time tonight," I tell Alan sleepily as I lean back in my seat. "I was afraid that when I crashed into your bakery, you might hate me forever and want my head on a plate, Alan. But then you came back for me, and you showed me that not all Earthlings are terrible except for the one named Noah Kennedy who destroyed you."

"I had a good time, too, Luna," Alan replies. "I guess this means we're kind of friends, huh?"

I sit up a little straighter in my seat at that.

"Oh, Alan..." I giggle and raise my hands to my cheeks, blushing a fiery magenta that fills the dim interior of his car with a soft light. "I apologize, but I do not think I'm ready to take that step with such a stranger."

"Wait." Alan says, and then understanding crosses his expression, "That's not what I meant!"