Chapter Two
Eteriion watched the black car park outside the cabin. Sipping his water, he leaned on the wall as he watched through his bedroom window. Whoever had rented the cabin appeared to take some time to get out of the car, and when he did, Eteriion blew out his breath. “Nice,” he murmured.
The man was nice. Dark jeans over long legs, a thick white sweater that covered what was hopefully a hot body.
He stood and stared before walking to the front of the cabin and disappearing from Eteriion’s view.
“Shame.” His eyes moved to the hot tub. “Or maybe not.” He couldn’t wait to watch the man use the hot tub.
Pushing away from the wall, Eteriion walked out of his bedroom and into the living area of his cabin and sat on the chair, stretching his long legs out in front of him.
He shook his head, feeing his tentacles slide over the back of the chair until one came around and he checked the end.
He’d stupidly injured the end of one on the stove, which, considering he’d been born with them, still had him shaking his head.
Letting his tentacle move back over his shoulder, he chuckled at the idea of what the man in the cabin would think if they met.
Only a handful of humans knew what he was and those he considered his friends.
They’d rescued him when he’d crashed, nursed him back to health and helped him try to fix his ship, though for now it remained unfixable.
The man had appeared shorter than him, but that wasn’t surprising.
Eteriion stood at six feet five inches, so most humans were shorter than him.
The man also appeared sad. Even with the distance between them, Eteriion could sense the sadness in him, and Eteriion wondered what had caused it.
He wanted to find out because there was something about the human that tugged at him and Eteriion hadn’t experienced that sensation before.
It intrigued him, so he knew his large hats would be in use.
The hats had been made by a human woman to cover his tentacles, and for the most part, they worked.
It gave Eteriion some freedom of movement and he was able to visit the local town, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to travel far away.
The hats made his head hot and his tentacles uncomfortable, but it was necessary to give him some small amount of freedom.
Contact lenses helped with his eyes. They were a purple shade not seen on Earth.
They also had what appeared to look like lightning flaring from the pupil to the edge of the iris in a gold color.
Color aside, the things that really stood out were his pupils, with their vertical slits.
There was no way he could walk outside without them covered, so he wore blue contacts that hid them.
It had taken some time to adjust to wearing the contacts.
At first, they had irritated his eyes, and his vision had been impacted, but he had learned how to use them.
A knock on the door had Eteriion standing and walking over to it.
Seeing Ged standing outside, he opened the door and let the older human man inside.
Ged nodded to him and pulled his cap off his head and smoothed his hair down.
“Are you coming to Elise’s soon? She said she hasn’t seen you in a few days. Worried about you.”
Elise was an older human woman who owned a cafe in town. “I’ve been researching.”
Ged nodded. “Still having a problem with the fuel you need for your ship?”
“I knew it would take time, but I never anticipated I’d still be here five years after crashing.”
“You miss your home.” Ged followed Eteriion to the fire and sat on the sofa as Eteriion sat on the chair. “I’ve been looking into that military base near here. See what they have there.”
Eteriion looked at Ged. “Thank you for considering it but it’s fine. I don’t want you getting into trouble trying to help me out.”
“Wasn’t it you who saved my Tracy when she was hit by that avalanche?
I almost lost my daughter, and when we couldn’t reach her, you did, so if you need any help at all, we’ll be there, but if you don’t want me to look at the base then I won’t.
” Eteriion nodded. “Okay. You need to come out more and spend some time with us. I know we’re not like you, but you don’t have to spend all your time alone. ”
“I am alone.” He was the only one of his kind on this planet. Far away from his own planet, his own kind.
“In one way you are, but we’re here for you as well. We’re your friends and we worry about you. I know we’re different.” Ged waved his hand at Eteriion’s head. “You have tentacles, and I have a few white tufts.” Ged smiled, the wrinkles around his eyes twinkling.
Eteriion smiled. He knew Ged was trying to include him and he appreciated it, but he was different. “I appreciate you coming up here to see me.”
“Is that your way of telling me to piss off?”
Eteriion chuckled. “No, not really, you’re right that I should come down more often.
I guess I’m, what do you humans call it?
Depressed? Lonely? I miss my world and my people.
I can’t even have a relationship here. I can’t risk it.
And all the Christmas decorations are up and… ” Eteriion trailed off, then shrugged.
“I know, son,” Ged sighed as he messed with his cap. “I wish I could find a way for you to go home.”
“It is what it is.” Eteriion sighed and stared at the fire. “I should remember I survived the crash and when you all found me, you kept me safe instead of handing me over to the authorities.”
“You just looked so…”
“Pathetic,” Eteriion grunted, remembering the crash and how they had found him. He’d been hovering over the town, observing them. He had plans to learn about humans and their interactions, then a flock of birds flew into his ship and there was nothing he could do to stop his ship from crashing.
Hearing the explosion, Ged and some of the townsfolk had driven up the mountain to investigate.
They arrived as Eteriion had been dragging himself out of the wreckage of his ship.
They’d all stood staring at each other, then Eteriion had lifted his hand and said, “I come in peace?” Ged had pulled his gun out, holding it in a hand that shook. “Please don’t take me to your leader?”
“Are you trying to be funny?” Elise had demanded. “Or have you been watching too much shit TV?”
John had grunted. “Damn alien comes all this way and ends up watching shit TV?”
“We learn the languages and customs of each world we observe. It helps us to understand the indigenous population better. TV is one such way but also your internet. I didn’t mean to crash, but those flying things hit it.
” Lifting a hand to his head, he touched a wound, then looked at his fingers, seeing them covered in blood.
Bright blue blood had covered them. “I’m injured. ”
“We don’t stock alien blood.”
He’d looked up at Ged, took a step forward, then fell to his knees as waves of dizziness washed over him. “I don’t feel good.”
“How are you speaking our language?”
“He’s doing a good job, isn’t he? Are you a he? I can’t tell with those snakes on your head,” Elise asked.
“Like Medusa.” Eteriion hadn’t heard any more as he’d passed out.
Looking at Ged, he smiled. “Medusa.”
Ged chucked. “John impressed himself with that line. Of course, we then had to carry your heavy ass to one of the trucks so we could get you off that mountain.”
“I should make a note for the next time I crash on another world. Don’t be too heavy for the natives to carry.”
Ged snorted. “You’re getting better at that.”
“I have Garrison to thank.”
“Yeah. Hard to believe the little shit will be going to college next year.” Ged stood and put his cap back on his head. “We expect to see you for breakfast on Sunday. Usual time.”
Eteriion stood and watched Ged get into his truck, then slowly drive away.
Closing the door, Eteriion’s tentacles moved around his body, hugging him.
Sighing softly, he walked over to the fireplace and contemplated building one, but then backed away.
In his bedroom he stood by the window, hoping for a glance of the human in the other cabin.
The one that looked sad. Eteriion wanted to wipe the sad look off his face.
“I would if he saw me. I’d replace it with a look of fear and then listen to his screams as he ran away.”
But he wanted to risk it because he was lonely.
He wanted more than what he had, but he knew he should be grateful for what he did have.
When he’d crashed here, the people who found him could have turned him in to the authorities.
Instead, they’d helped him recover, gave him a place to stay, and kept him safe.
They were good humans, and Eteriion was grateful to know them.
It wasn’t the same as having a mate. A man to call his own.
Like the sad one in the cabin next to him.
Why he was focusing on him, Eteriion didn’t know. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen plenty of men. The cabins around his own had regular visitors staying for vacations and those visitors included men, but for some reason, the man who’d arrived earlier held his attention.
“Not that I can do anything about it. Imagine his reaction when he saw my eyes or my tentacles or the patterns along my spine. He’d run away, or as Garrison would say, he would freak the fuck out.
” Eteriion chuckled softly, then stopped.
Looking at his hands, he exhaled, then closed his eyes and leaned his head on the window.
Ignoring the cold, he stayed there for several minutes, thinking about his home before opening his eyes.
He saw the man out the back of the cabin, a drink in his hand, staring out at the scenery.
Eteriion had done the same thing multiple times over the years, especially in winter when snow lay thick on the ground.
It was truly beautiful here, and so different from his own world.
His planet had two suns so was far hotter and had less vegetation.
That was why he didn’t need to eat as much as humans but felt the cold more.
He’d adapted to the weather. Maybe. He still wore the thickest sweaters, with a tank top and T-shirt underneath.
Sometimes he wore two T-shirts and a tank.
But sitting in front of a nice fire made the cold worth it.
With a good book as well, and a hot chocolate.
Eteriion and alcohol didn’t get along. He did have the occasional beer, but that was it.
He couldn’t handle more than one a month.
For some reason, his body couldn’t process it properly and he would be violently ill for days.
In time, he’d learned what he could tolerate where food and drink were concerned.
He liked meat. Nice big fat juicy steaks were his favorite, but he liked chicken, too.
And pork. Any meat, really. It didn’t have to be cooked, either, but he knew humans wouldn’t appreciate him sitting down to a plate of raw meat, so he had it rare instead.
He knew he was lucky. He’d crash landed on this planet and the humans who had found him kept him safe.
They accepted him, became friends with him.
He could have easily crashed in a place where the humans turned him over to the authorities and Eteriion would have spent the rest of his life being tested and dissected.
Until he wasn’t useful anymore, then they would have killed him.
He was truly lucky to have good friends who accepted him, tentacles and all. Which meant he absolutely had to attend breakfast on Sunday and, as Elise was a superb cook, he didn’t have a problem with that. In the meantime, he could watch the sad, gorgeous man in the cabin.