CHAPTER 1
Planet Earth
Harry loved humans. Everything about them was so fascinating. Even their names were refreshingly short and interesting, not at all like names back home.
Take Harry’s name, for example. Well, the point was, it wasn’t his real name. His real name was very hard to pronounce for humans. The muscular properties of humans’ tongues were limiting for certain types of phonetic articulation, including Harry’s native language.
Harry liked his chosen human name better than his real one, anyway. “Harry” was similar enough to his given name and sounded so nice and unusual. He couldn’t help but smile every time someone addressed him as Harry. Humans tended to give him strange looks when he beamed at them happily, but Harry didn’t mind. He had read on the Internet that it was okay to be weird and quirky as long as one wasn’t too weird. Hopefully he wasn’t.
“Uh, dude, are you going to smile at me all day or are you going to finally give me my money?”
Torn from his musings, Harry smiled serenely at the big pink man who was frowning at him. (Harry didn’t understand why humans called pink people “white” and brown people “black.” Were humans color-blind? Why did skin color matter so much, anyway? Weren’t people just people? Humans were so confusing.)
“Sure thing, dude,” Harry said, imitating the man’s speech patterns. His research said that humans responded positively to mimicking their behavior. Harry was very good at it. He rather liked the man’s accent.
The man’s frown deepened. He looked at Harry oddly. “Are you mocking me?” He cracked his knuckles for some reason.
“No?” Harry said, confused, and gave him his change.
The man glowered at him, grabbed his coffee and his change, and left, the bell tinkling softly as he exited the coffee shop.
Harry worked at this little place called Star Coffee. He absolutely loved it! The apt name aside, it was quiet and charming, and it was also the only place willing to hire him. Harry had discovered that to survive on this planet he needed money, and the easiest way to make money was to find a job. Unfortunately, he had also discovered that for a young human male without any education, job options were very limited. Harry was still a little angry at his parents for giving him only false identification documents with the name he’d chosen and a small amount of human money before dropping him in a city called London two Terran months ago.
“It will teach you a lesson,” they had told him. “We’ve spoiled you too much. Maybe the experience will finally make you grow up.”
Harry had been secretly pleased at the time. If his parents thought it was a punishment, they didn’t know him at all. He’d always dreamed of getting off his planet and seeing the universe. Humans, or Terrans, as they called them back home, had always fascinated him. Their society hadn’t yet reached the technological and cultural level required for Contact, but it wasn’t long now, perhaps one thousand years at most unless humans destroyed themselves before that. For now, Earth was used only for short, educational trips—or when one’s parents wanted to punish their child for doing naughty things like reading other people’s minds without permission. (Harry had told his parents he didn’t mean it, but, sadly, no one believed him.)
Anyway, having a real, human job was fascinating. Harry didn’t mind working at Star Coffee. His boss had kindly agreed to give him his salary in cash and Harry didn’t even mind that he seemed to earn less than the other employees. He took pride in the small stack of human money he received every month. There was no physical money on Calluvia anymore, hadn’t been for a few thousand years.
Working at the coffee shop suited him very much. It was a job that wasn’t suspicious for a young human male of eighteen years. That was his age according to his fake documents. Harry wasn’t actually eighteen; he was twenty-three in Calluvian years, but since a Calluvian year was shorter than a Terran year, he probably was around eighteen or nineteen in Terran years. Harry wasn’t sure; mathematics had never been his strongest point.
“Hey.”
Torn from his daydreaming once again, Harry looked at the next customer.
It was a young male in a dark suit. His skin wasn’t as pink as the previous man’s. It was more golden than pink. He had very dark, very nice eyes. Harry liked dark eyes. They were so rare on Calluvia, unlike Harry’s own violet eyes.
“Hello,” Harry said, flashing the human a friendly smile. He had learned that humans gave bigger tips when he did that. Harry felt a little bad for exploiting it, but a guy’s gotta eat, as humans said.
The human smiled back, handing him a five pound note. “A cappuccino, please.”
When Harry returned with his coffee, the guy said, “Thank you, Harry.”
“Oh!” Harry said, beaming at him. “How do you know my name?”
The human gave him an odd look. “It’s on your nametag.”
“Oh,” Harry said, flushing. How embarrassing.
The guy’s smile widened, something like amusement flickering in his eyes. Harry wanted to know the human’s thoughts so badly he had to dig his fingers into his palms to distract himself. Bad, bad Harry, he scolded himself. His parents wouldn’t be amused if they found out that he was exploiting his telepathy again. (Harry never had bad intentions. He just had a curious mind. Literally.)
“Keep the change, love,” the man said.
Harry decided that he liked this human. He liked all humans, really, but this one was very nice. Maybe he would make a good friend.
Harry brightened at the thought. He had wanted to make friends since his arrival, but in the first few weeks he hadn’t been confident enough in his ability to pass for a human and hadn’t dared. Perhaps it was time to try. Harry was positive he made a very convincing human. Sure, people thought he was odd, but no one ever suspected the truth.
“What is your name?” Harry said enthusiastically.
The human’s dark eyebrows lifted a little. “Adam,” he said.
“Really?” Harry said, pleased that he knew something about the name and there wouldn’t be awkward silences in the conversation. “That’s what the first human was called!”
Adam stared at him.
Harry deflated a little. Had he gotten it wrong?
“Yes,” Adam said after a beat. “Sort of.”
Relieved, Harry smiled brighter. “Have you found your Eve yet?”
Adam blinked and cocked his head to the side, eyeing Harry. “Not exactly,” he said at last. “I don’t swing that way I’m afraid.”
Harry frowned, confused once again. His translating chip must have been malfunctioning. Adam didn’t look afraid, and Harry didn’t understand what a swing had to do with Adam’s relationship status. “Swing that way?” he said, hoping his confusion didn’t seem too odd.
“Are you a foreigner?” Adam said, chuckling softly.
Harry nodded, pleased that there was a plausible explanation for his ignorance.
“Odd,” Adam said. “You don’t have an accent.”
“I’m very good at accents,” Harry said honestly. His translating chip could only get him so far. It didn’t help him much with accents and slang. “So what did you mean?”
“I meant that I don’t like women that way. I’m afraid there’s no Eve for me.”
“Oh,” Harry breathed. When Adam started frowning, he grinned. “This is so cool! I’ve never met a homosexual person in my life!”
“I doubt it. You probably have, just didn’t realize. We look just like heterosexuals. So inconsiderate of us.”
Adam had said it seriously, but Harry wasn’t fooled.
He pouted. “Yeah, make fun of a foreigner struggling with your culture and language.”
Adam laughed, lightly tapping Harry on the nose. “Sorry, couldn’t resist—you’re adorable, kid.”
Harry scrunched his nose up. “I’m not a kid. I’m tw—eighteen.”
“Well, I’m twenty-six,” Adam said, glancing at his watch. “And I have to go.”
Harry frowned. “Already?”
He couldn’t quite hide his disappointment, and Adam smiled at him. “Are you disappointed?”
“Yes,” Harry said.
Adam chuckled. “My lunch break is almost over.”
“What’s your job?”
“I’m a financial analyst at the bank on the other side of the street,” Adam said with a smile that made Harry suspect he was humoring him.
“That sounds interesting,” Harry said.
“Not really,” Adam said. “But it pays well, and I suppose I can’t complain. I really have to go. It was nice to meet you, Harry.”
“Likewise,” Harry said earnestly. “Come here again!”
“I will,” Adam said before reaching out and touching the flower tucked behind Harry’s ear. “You know, on any other bloke this would look weird, but it suits you.”
Harry beamed at him. “Thanks!” He liked the way the purple flower looked in his chestnut hair. It almost made his eyes seem purple.
Harry watched a little sadly as Adam took his coffee and left.
He hoped it wasn’t the last he’d see of him.
* * *
Adam did return to the coffee shop two days later. He wasn’t alone this time.
Harry watched curiously as Adam and his companion talked, sipping their drinks. He hadn’t been the one to take their order—Samantha had while he was on a break—and now Harry was left floundering. Should he go say hi? Adam hadn’t looked his way even once yet. Maybe he didn’t remember Harry.
“What’s with that sad face, Hazza?” Samantha said.
Hazza. Human nicknames were fascinating.
Harry told her about his dilemma. “Should I go say hi?”
Samantha looked back at the pair. “Better not. Maybe they’re on a date.”
“A date?”
Samantha shrugged. “Yeah. They’re both hot, and they look pretty cozy to me.”
Bewildered, Harry returned his gaze to Adam and his male companion. They did seem rather cozy. Adam’s companion was a young dark-skinned man, who possessed a symmetrical face with symmetrical features, which was universally considered beautiful. But Harry wasn’t sure of the man’s sexual appeal the way humans would just know. Sometimes the differences between their species were so frustrating.
“Do you think Adam’s date is attractive?” Harry said. Adam was his friend (hopefully). Harry wanted him to be happy.
Samantha shrugged again. “He’s very good-looking. Though, in my opinion, your Adam is way out of his league.”
Harry smiled. He knew what that expression meant!
“You think so?” he said, trying to look at Adam objectively. But it was so difficult. Calluvian sexuality was very different from that of humans. The closest human sexuality he could think of was demisexuality, and that wasn’t entirely accurate, either. Until Harry’s childhood bond to his betrothed became a marriage bond when he turned twenty-five in two years, his sex drive would be non-existent, and even then he would be attracted only to his bondmate. Well, there were whispers that sometimes people had sex outside of a bond, but Harry thought it was preposterous. Everyone knew that your bondmate completed you, and that the telepathic link made sex perfect. Calluvians had been practicing marriage bonds for thousands of years. It was scientifically proven that a bond was superior to the way things had been done in the past. Every Calluvian child was bonded telepathically to another and grew up knowing their bondmate from a very early age. Harry thought it was very smart.
But now it presented a problem, since Harry couldn’t really see humans the way other humans did.
Harry could see that Adam, with his tall, athletic figure, dark hair and dark eyes was aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but he couldn’t properly judge his sexual appeal. Heck, Harry didn’t know what sex was, or rather, he knew only theoretically.
“Yeah, he’s a hottie,” Samantha said with a dreamy sigh. “That chiseled jaw... that stubble... that dark smolder... mmm…Yummy!”
Harry burst out laughing. At moments like this, he was so glad he couldn’t make a fool out of himself because of things like lust. It seemed so ridiculous to him.
His laughter made Adam turn his head. Adam nodded to him with a smile. Harry waved cheerfully. Adam’s smile widened, turning amused and... something else. He said something to his companion and made his way to the counter.
“Hey, Harry,” he said, leaning forward against the counter. Harry would worry for his immaculate suit, but he knew the counter was spotlessly clean. He had cleaned it himself.
“Hi there!” Harry said. “How is your date going?”
Adam snorted. “Jake isn’t a date. He’s my friend and colleague. Do you think I’m such a cheap date that I’d bring my date to this coffee shop?”
“Hey,” Harry drawled with a pout.
Adam smirked. “Just kidding, babe. This is a first-rate establishment. Anyone would be honored to be brought here on a date.”
Harry nodded importantly. “Exactly.” Babe. Adam had called him a babe. It was a little odd, because he wasn’t an infant, but Harry knew by now that humans often didn’t mean things in the literal sense. Babe. He decided he rather liked being called “babe.”
Remembering that he was supposed to be working, he said, “Did you want something?”
“Not really,” Adam said, glancing back to his friend, who was watching them with raised eyebrows. “Just came over to say hi.”
Harry beamed at him. “Hi yourself. I’ve been just thinking about you, actually—wondering if you’d come again. I liked you very much and hoped we could be friends.”
Adam stared at him for a moment. “You haven’t a coy bone in your body, do you?” he murmured, shaking his head, but his eyes were smiling. “Okay, give me your phone, I’ll give you my number.”
Harry deflated. “I don’t have a mobile phone,” he admitted in a small voice. Even he knew how unusual and strange the lack of a mobile phone was for a human.
Adam blinked. “Really?”
Harry nodded. He supposed he could lie and tell Adam that he’d lost his phone, but he hated lying and wasn’t very good at it. “I don’t really know many people in this country, so I never got around to buying one.” Harry shrugged with an embarrassed smile. “I don’t really have spare money for one, anyway.”
Adam’s brows drew together. “Are you an orphan?”
“No!” Harry said quickly, the mere thought of his parents’ death upsetting him greatly. “My parents are back home. They’re normally very supportive, it’s just...” He chewed on his lip. “I did something bad and they got angry with me. They said I should learn how to be a responsible adult, so they kind of cut me off. Don’t look at me that way. It’s just temporary. They’ll get over it. They love me. I’m their youngest—the baby of the family.”
Smiling, Adam pinched his cheek. “That I can believe.”
Unthinkingly, Harry touched his hand—
You’re the most endearing thing I’ve ever met.
Oh, no.
Harry really didn’t mean to. He didn’t! He’d just forgotten that humans, as non-telepathic species, were completely unprotected against touch-telepathy—the simplest form of telepathy that could be blocked by a basic mental shield that even kids mastered easily back home. But he wasn’t home. He had no right to violate humans’ privacy by eavesdropping on their thoughts. His parents would be so mad at him if they found out.
“Sorry,” Harry said, withdrawing his fingers and balling them behind his back. However, he couldn’t help but feel pleased that Adam thought he was endearing. It meant they were friends, right? “Anyway!” he said, ignoring the odd look Adam was giving him. “If you aren’t dating Jake, where’s your second half?”
Adam said, “Nowhere. I’m married to my job I’m afraid.”
“That’s too bad,” Harry said, sad on Adam’s behalf. He knew humans were social beings. “Everyone needs a strong emotional bond.”
Adam gave him an amused look. “You sound like my old grandma. And how many emotional bonds have you had, oh wise one?”
“You’re mocking me.” Harry pouted. “I’ll have you know I already know the person I’m going to be with for the rest of my life.”
Adam’s amused smile slipped off. “That’s a very serious statement coming from an eighteen-year-old,” he said after a moment. “And who’s the lucky girl?”
“Her name is...” Harry hesitated for a moment. He hated lying, but there was no way he could give Adam his bondmate’s real name—Leylen’shni’gul—for the same reason he couldn’t give his. So he chose one that sounded close enough in a Terran language. “Her name is Leyla. We’ve known each other practically all our lives.”
“Wow,” Adam said, a wrinkle appearing on his forehead. “And you love her so much you’re sure you’ll be with her all your life?”
Harry suppressed a sigh. It was very hard to explain how the bond worked to a human.
“We share a special bond,” Harry said tentatively. They did. He and his bondmate had been bonded since they were two years old. “She’s always in my thoughts and I’m in hers.” Harry smiled, pleased that he hadn’t lied once so far. They did have a telepathic connection, though he couldn’t feel it on Earth because of the physical distance between them. “We’re engaged and... will be married in two years,” he added, proud that he’d found human equivalents to the state of his bond.
Adam smiled faintly. “That’s very young to marry.”
Harry shrugged. “Not really. That’s the age people marry back home.”
“And where would that home be?” Adam said. “You haven’t told me where you are from.”
Harry froze for a moment before remembering the advice his best friend had given him: “If they ask, just tell Terrans you’re an alien. They’ll never believe you and will just think you’re being funny.”
Harry said conversationally, “I’m actually an alien from the star system in the Sagittarius constellation.”
“Ah,” Adam said with a smile. “That explains your creepy alien eyes.”
“What! What’s wrong with my eyes?”
Adam shot him a strange look. “They’re dark violet color, Harry. Surely you realize that’s pretty unusual?”
The corners of Harry’s mouth turned down. Why had no one told him that his eyes weren’t very human? He could have worn colored contact lenses. He’d seen an advertisement on the TV.
“Hey,” Adam said, tipping Harry’s face up with his thumb. He was frowning. “Are you upset? Don’t be silly. Your eyes are very beautiful—unusual but beautiful.”
Blushing, Harry smiled at him. “You’re so nice to me! I like you a lot. Would you like to be my friend? I’d love to have you as my friend.”
Adam chuckled. “How are you even real?” he murmured, brushing his thumb over Harry’s cheek. “Yes, I would love to be your friend, love.”
Harry beamed at him, warmth and happiness filling his chest as he looked into Adam’s smiling dark eyes. He missed this—having a connection to another person. It might not be telepathic, as he was used to, but it felt good. For the first time since his arrival on Earth, Harry admitted to himself that he had been a little lonely here. Just a little.
But not anymore.