First Contact
day 27 communication. Tbh this is not big on the gt yet. It's a bit of a starter for an au i was working on before it. so more Mikhail and Ian
First Contact
Mikhail ran through his list one last time. He had the disguise set to look like the most populous and seemingly intelligent species. If they were intelligent he had to try and befriend one to bring them back and make a translator. From the preliminary scans there were multiple languages, but a translator for at least one would help. Of course he’d need to also make one for the one he befriends, he can’t make himself speak the languages that easily. He hoped they were actually intelligent this time, the last time was informative yet disappointing.
He put the list down and set his ship to land in an area that seemed mostly ignored. For the last few cycles of the planet he observed the bipedal species avoided the dense area of vegetation. It would be the best for him, it also appeared to be full of large vegetation that matched his maximum height. He could only assume this species was similar to his own or they had need of such large vegetation. As the ship started on its course, he stepped into the machine to set up his disguise. Hopefully this is as simple as it appears.
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Ian wasn’t happy with how things turned out, but it was better than nothing. He had just enough money for a tent and some supplies and no one would show up out here. He just needed to get himself calm enough to handle crowds of people again. Then he’d go find a better place to live, or maybe a job at least. He wanted to pretend it was easy, but he knew from his parents it wouldn’t be. His life wasn’t easy while they were alive either.
He read over the note from the last person who seemed to care. A promise that they’ll help him and in the worst case he can come by to get cleaned up before interviews. It was the best they could do once he turned eighteen. He sighed, crawling into the tent and laying on the ground. It was kind of comfortable at least. He just wanted to figure everything out before trying to be around people again. He’s too nervous to say much once he sees someone’s eyes just staring at him.
“It would be nice if this helps,” he said. He just couldn’t handle loud voices or sudden touch, it had made the place he’d been staying before hard enough. He heard the sound of something rustling nearby and jumped up. “Who’s there?!”
He grabbed a bat he thought would be a good defense as he slipped out of the tent. He looked around for the signs of where the rustling had come from. He was probably overreacting to a wild animal coming to investigate. He didn’t move until the rustling sounded again and he took a step closer. He jumped back as the rustling continued and he saw something coming out.
He held the bat up as a person walked into his campsite and just looked around. He tried to talk, but he couldn’t get the words out as those green eyes locked onto his own blue. He tried to hold his ground as the strange person tilted their head and came closer. If he looked intimidating enough they’d leave and he’d be fine. He tried to scowl and ready the bat, but the strange person just looked at it without concern.
The stranger spoke and it wasn’t any language Ian ever heard. He immediately felt like an idiot. This was probably just a lost tourist who wanted to see the ‘tallest forest in the state’. Ian lowered the bat and just pointed in the direction of town. That should be enough for them to leave and he could go back to his brooding. He probably shouldn’t be happy to call it brooding, but that is what he was doing. The stranger looked behind them then just pointed like he was in the opposite direction.
“What?” he asked. The stranger nodded at his voice which made no sense. Then stepped closer, he widened his eyes. The stranger walked closer again and Ian stiffened.
“Do you live here?” the stranger spoke again.
“Look, the town is that way, have fun.” He pointed in the direction a few times and decided to turn away. It would probably be faster to not have to deal with this creep if he ignored them. He felt a hand grabbing his arm and swung out without thinking. The stranger grabbed the bat as it came around like it was nothing. “...what the fuck?”
“Do you not have contact like this here?”
Ian pulled his arm from the grip of the stranger and backed away again. The stranger stopped any approach just sitting down in front of him. This was weird, he didn’t know how to treat this guy. He wanted to leave, but his tent was already set up and that would mean no shelter. The stranger stared at him with a tilted head and he sighed again. He decided to sit down across from the weird person, he still had his bat at least. The stranger started to make a weird noise. He wanted to know what language this was, it definitely wasn’t from any language he heard growing.
“Mikhail,” the stranger said. Ian wasn’t getting much out of it, mik at best. He looked at the person quizzically. This time they pressed their hands to their chest. “Mikhail.”
“Are you telling me your name?” he asked. The stranger just looked at him with wide eyes. He pointed at the stranger and decided he’d give it a shot. “Mik?”
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Mikhail wasn’t sure what this species was saying. They could speak which was good, but seemed almost hostile. He decided to try placating them, but it backfired quickly. This species must not view touch as his own does. He decided to try getting his name across. The species seemed to garner half of it. That was a start he nodded as they repeated the first half of his name.
“Yes, I’m Mikhail,” Mikhail said, pressing his hands to his chest. He tried to emphasize his name, but the facial expression seemed similar to the confusion shown by his own kind. He pointed to the other person. “You are?”
“Mik,” they said and pointed at him again. They got that much, but he wanted their name. They pressed their hand to their chest and gave him an almost fearful look. “Ian.”
The native species repeated the combination a few times pointing back and forth. It seemed the ways of speech weren’t too varied between their species, although his own had some extra sounds is the best he could guess. He needed to befriend this one and bring them back so he could make translators for at least the two of them. Then they could communicate and he could make real progress. He didn’t like that someone who appeared to be young of the species was living out here while there were normal dwellings close by, either.
“Ian,” he finally mimicked while pointing at the native species. They nodded and Mikhail chose to repeat the actions they’d done, pointing at himself. “Mik.” Then back to the other, “Ian.”
“Cool we know each other’s names, that doesn’t do shit.” The human started to roll the object he’d waved before in their hands. It was a strange greeting if that’s what it was, although Mikhail had a feeling it was a fear response. He didn’t quite know how to befriend them. There was clearly a higher level of thought, food isn’t how to do it. Mikhail pulled out his local computer to see what he could find. This brought the other’s attention back to him. “Is that some weird knock off tablet or something?”
Mikhail sighed, this lack of understanding was not going to get better. He took some notes on the general form of the species now that he was in person. They are significantly smaller than most of his own which would make learning anything hard without communication. He listened as the being seemed to mumble to themself, there had to be more similarities in their language. He was catching bits of sounds that didn’t make sense to him. Half of the words sounded fake or made up, but that wasn’t how he should view other languages he knew better. He had to be wrong about the way it sounded, maybe they had sounds that didn’t exist for him. What kind of word was fuck, there had to be something more to it. This language was clearly more difficult than he thought.
The being finally chose to sit as well and just watched him. He wasn’t sure what to do so he stared back. This didn’t appear to be the right response as the other turned away rather quickly. It followed with a look that he hoped wasn’t threatening. The other stood again, grabbing the stick thing that they’d tried to attack with. He took a calm breath, even at this size it can’t hurt him much. The other just moved the stick into the cloth that had been set up near one of the local flora. It wasn’t a common setting looking around, this had to be something the other brought here.
The other sat again, he should be using their name. Ian sat again. It was nice to know their species seemed to have similar names, at least from what could be understood. Ian seemed to play with their hands, it made him curious. He watched the actions closely, unable to find a meaning in the seemingly endless movement. He wanted to try saying something again, but single words weren’t going to make any progress. He started to search the history of meetings with other species. At least one had to have something that could be a display of peace here too.
“So you’re just going to watch me all day?” Ian asked. At least, he thought it was a question there was a curious lilt. He noted that despite being obviously pointless they chose to continue attempting communication. “Well if you’re a murderer I don’t have a ton of options, you’d probably just catch me as I ran back to town. If you’re not you’ll probably leave anyway… Where are you from anyway?”
Mikhail tilted his head, that was a lot of speech. There wasn’t anything he could even grasp although the tone seemed resigned. He almost wanted to do what some of the teachers used to suggest and just grab the smaller species. It would make getting translators easier, but they’d already decided that hurts attempts to form relationships. He shivered at the idea of how he’d seem to Ian. He had been this size many times on his home planet, but he knew the people around him were safe.
“Are you cold?” Ian said. Mikhail noted a change in their face now. He didn’t recognize that facial expression, but the tone sounded possibly kind. “I guess you are dressed pretty lightly…”
“Why do you keep speaking?” Mikhail found himself asking. He knew how foolish it was, but maybe there was something that this species could communicate in just the sounds. Ian made another face then sighed. They stood and walked into the fabric against the flora. It did look to be a decent enough shelter, that could be its purpose. When Ian returned they had a new bit of fabric that they threw at him.
“There, I bought some extras. I have no clue if you get any of this but it should help.” Mikhail studied Ian for a moment before looking at the fabric that had landed in his lap. He lifted it and the fabric appeared to be just a long piece. He wasn’t sure what the purpose was, a peace offering perhaps. Ian watched him before going in and out, returning with a fabric piece that looked less nice. “Blanket. Blanket…”
Mikhail played with the large fabric. It could be a warning, the species could potentially get larger. That would make things easier, showing a similar ability would be a potential camaraderie. Ian instead continued the word multiple times and then wrapped the cloth around themself. Mikhail’s eyes widened and he mimicked the form. It felt nice, they didn’t do this with fabrics on his planet. They could much more easily regulate temperature with size changes and their technology. This didn’t seem like a bad idea though, he liked it.
He sat there taking in the habits of Ian until the star of this planet began to set. It bothered him that he wouldn’t be able to observe any habits that occur without light. He slowly climbed to his feet, ignoring the tell tale tight feeling of his time running out. He stretched, mimicking ones he noticed Ian do a few times in the period he was observing them. He then gathered the fabric and held it out to return it. The experience was nice, he’d need to suggest using fabric this way at home. Ian looked at him oddly.
“Dude, I don’t want it back,” Ian said. Mikhail frowned, the speaking regardless of understanding still felt odd. He offered the fabric again, but Ian just pushed his hand away. “Keep it.”
“Do I need to speak for you to be willing to retrieve your fabric?” he asked. Ian sighed before standing and pointing at the fabric they’d let fall to the ground.
“Ian’s.” Mikhail nodded, they had discussed names although he didn’t think the fabric shared the other’s name. Ian then grabbed the fabric around Mikhail’s hand and pushed it towards him. “Mik’s.”
Mikhail widened his eyes. The fabric was meant to be a gift? Mikhail pulled the fabric closer again and examined it. That wasn’t expected, he wished he could ask what gifts meant for their species. Mikhail nodded and Ian seemed happy sitting down and continuing to make odd shapes on what he assumed were disposable writing platforms. Mikhail carefully folded the fabric back to the odd square it was when he’d received it. He proceeded to start his return to his spot to figure out his leaving procedures. He didn’t want to offend Ian.
“I hope that attempt means you’re leaving so bye I guess,” Ian spoke up.
Mikhail tilted his head as he watched them move their hand back and forth. Mikhail had to remember that was the leaving procedure and add a note to planet customs. He lifted his arm and mimicked the movement, getting a curious glance from Ian. He still took this as the proper way to leave and started on his way back to his ship. It would be best to note everything more clearly once he was at his more comfortable size. That stretching almost made him break his disguise there. He’d need to be careful next time.
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Ian waited about ten minutes after the weird guy left to climb in his tent. He sat hugging the bat and waiting for the footsteps to come back. He didn’t even know when he fell asleep, but it wasn’t restful. As he opened his eyes he started to feel shocked he was even alive. He was convinced that guy was going to be some weird serial killer hiding out in the woods. Although he might seem that way too.
He stretched and slipped out of the tent relieved to find himself alone. He liked being alone, he could get things done that way. He started up his small fire and got to making a quick breakfast, he’d need to get a job at some point. He just managed to make some crappy oatmeal, but it was a meal. He had to come up with a better plan at this point. He almost wanted Mik to show up again just to not have to deal with his own thoughts.
“I guess I’ll just get to studying for now,” he sighed. He pulled out a book from the tent and just started working through the problems in it. He jumped when he heard rustling again and glared at the sound. He waited for only a few seconds before more sounded. “Mik?”
When the tall stranger popped out of the bushes he was relieved. He was expecting the other to be covered in blood or showing up with some weird mystery meat. Instead Mik just slipped out of the bushes and gave him a decent bit of space as they returned to the spot they used yesterday. They still had the blanket with them, at least they seemed to like it. He sighed again, maybe company wasn’t the best idea.
“Are you still going to be confusing today?” he asked. Mik just tilted their head, he should have known that would happen.
Ian resigned himself to the workbooks again. He could barely hear the tapping of nails against the screen of Mik’s tablet thing. It didn’t look like one he’d ever seen before. He tried to ignore the curiosity gnawing at him. He almost wanted to go to the library and try looking up different languages to see what Mik spoke. He shivered at the idea of the crowd, he could just get up earlier tomorrow. He didn’t know how long he continued in silence before something was thrown at him.
He leaned back in time for it to hit his chest, glaring up at Mik. He found hopeful eyes staring back at him. He looked at what had been thrown at him and it looked like a small blue box. He picked it up slowly, waiting for the response that revealed this was a trick. Mik just kept watching as he picked the object up. Once he opened it he was even more confused. It was a really small blanket or maybe a small towel. He pulled it out and the thing almost exploded.
He fell back as the tight folding came undone. He felt it start to settle on him, much heavier than anything he’d felt before and panicked. Is this how the creep would kill him? A weird weighted blanket attack? Before he lost his mind completely the fabric was pulled off him and he stayed laying their panting. The stranger’s face hovered over him and he felt betrayed by the worry, this guy was supposed to be a psycho killer. He sat up slowly, barely registering the feeling of hands guiding him. He didn’t hate it as much today for some reason.
“Ian’s,” Mik said. Ian looked at him confused before noticing the strange square had unfolded into a much nicer tent. He climbed to his feet slowly and approached the structure. He cast another glance back at Mik, the smile almost blinding. “Ian’s!”
“Did you make this for me?” he asked.
Of course the stranger didn’t understand or answer, but he was caring less. He approached the weird tent and felt the now solid plastic. He gave a hard push and it didn’t move. If Mik had just left him under it he actually would have died. He looked back at the strange person, a new feeling hitting him. He was actually thankful, most other people in his life probably would have left him to suffer for his mistake. Mik came closer and touched the plastic a bit away from Ian, the door he hadn’t noticed opening to his touch.
“Ian’s?” Mik asked, tilting his head.
He took a deep breath before nodding and walking into the weird plastic. The place was like a small home more than just a tent. There was a bed with no blanket, so a little weird, and what looked like a weird stove. He just sort of stumbled around the area that seemed too big before Mik walked around, they waited for Ian to approach before doing certain things. First they seemed to show how to make the heat work, Ian’s guess on a weird stove was right. It would make food a lot easier. Mik reached for his hand, pulling back quickly, no one else usually tried to respect his distaste for touch.
Mik settled for taking steps then turning to stare at him. He followed like he assumed they wanted and found another room. This thing was in a box that was able to fit in his hand. This was some weird hyper advanced tech. This room looked like a bathroom at least so it would be easy to use, and make life out here easier. This didn’t make sense. He turned to look at Mik who was excitedly playing with different things to show off how they work.
“Why? What do you get showing me your weird tech? Are you planning to blackmail me or trap me or something?” he asked. Mik just tilted their head again, their silence was becoming uncomfortable. “Fuck, are you even human?”
Mik didn’t answer and Ian didn’t know if he wanted him too. He just offered his hand, a handshake was the least he could do. Mik stared at his hand for a few seconds before slowly reaching out. They didn’t grab it quite right and their skin felt weird. Neither part was bad, but that unanswered question bounced through his mind again. This guy could potentially be something that isn’t human, but what that was Ian was more lost on.
He chose to ignore that feeling, going back to his work inside the weird tent this time. Mik didn’t enter, just sat outside. Ian felt kind of awkward, eventually grabbing the stranger’s shoulder and dragging them inside. Mik looked almost like they were doing something wrong when Ian did this, but he wasn’t going to have the guy sit outside for no reason. They actually passed a few days like this.
Ian was starting to look forward to Mik’s arrival each morning. Even though he wasn’t making any progress on the language he was having fun. Mik tried to understand, he noticed the subtle changes in their face each time. He felt more listened to than he had since he’d gotten into this mess. A crappy halfway house because he was too old to get placed with anyone and couldn’t handle the crowds of a shelter once he was eighteen. It was nice. He was kind of glad this weirdo was turning out not to be a murderer so far.
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Mikhail had learned a lot from watching Ian. Their species likely used a lot of facial expressions which he tried to mimic. They definitely seemed young with how often they were scribbling away. He hadn’t learned much of the language from this though. He did notice that Ian kept saying something with a questioning tone and would go quiet for a while. He wanted to understand the question.
“Damn, I need to go to the library today,” he heard Ian mutter. He was on his way through the flora of the planet to the one he chose to befriend. As he walked through one of the smaller bits of flora they turned to face him. “For once I think I’m relieved you showed up. Want to come with me?”
Mikhail tilted his head, but Ian just sighed. They motioned to themself then towards the dwellings of more of their species. He took a moment to consider before he realized what was requested. Ian wanted him to go somewhere. So that would mean more interactions, he may have a chance to gather better data. He smiled and nodded his head at his companion.
Ian looked relieved as they pulled a strange object on their back. They took a few steps and turned back to look at him. He realized it was mimicry and found it amazing. Many other species he’d met had mimicry of some kind, but it didn’t occur as easily or quickly. He took his usual cautious steps after the other and followed them.
Ian brought him through the area filled with others of their species. The domiciles were all similar shapes and sizes. Another thing he found odd. On his planet there were buildings of all sizes. While naturally his species was much larger, there were many who eventually lived at much smaller options. It seemed the hope they may have similar abilities was being clearly destroyed.
It seemed odd how many of the others of Ian’s species avoided them. It was even clearer now that he saw more of them that Ian was young. It seemed like there should be some form of support for them. He made sure to note down that younger members of the species were not always supported long term. It would be imperative to know that once interactions began to increase.
Ian turned suddenly and Mikhail walked right into them. They were knocked over and he quickly reached out to try to help. His body was much denser at this size, they would need to study the impact of things like this in the future. Ian looked shocked as Mikhail pulled them back to their feet.
“No way you’re human,” Ian mumbled. Mikhail was growing more curious about that word.
Ian just pulled away and walked into the strange domicile. Mikhail followed, shocked by what he saw. The place was filled with shelves of objects he’d seen in studies before. They were called books if he remembered correctly. His species had moved past them a long time ago, keeping all information in a centralized network. He never thought he’d see something like this himself.
“Mik?” they asked. He jumped and looked down at them. They looked almost concerned, but he tried to copy one of the teeth baring faces they made. They gave one back before walking off.
Mikhail followed him to what appeared to be a primitive computer. He was curious how far advanced his technology was in comparison now. Ian spent time on the machine, Mikhail was more curious about the books. He grabbed one off the shelf, feeling how fragile it was in his grip. If books on his planet had been like this no wonder they decided to stop using them. He sat down with the book next to Ian.
“How can you hold that one handed? Those encyclopedias are heavy,” Ian muttered. “Strong weirdo or not human, definitely.”
Mikhail was starting to get annoyed at the word. He had a feeling it would manage to help them get closer. He’d maybe manage to make the translator if he knew this word. It was a few hours of time passing before he noticed Ian seemed to be watching him. He knew it would be cutting it close on time at this rate, but something told him to stick it out. Ian held something up to him.
“Talk into this,” they said. He tilted his head as had become the norm in Ian’s attempt to talk with him. They sighed and held the device in front of their face. “Do this, just a few words.”
They turned to the machine, hit some buttons then held the device out again. Mikhail nodded after a few seconds.
“You want me to speak into this? Do you also have translators?” he asked.
Ian made that teeth baring face again. They turned back to the machine and started to bounce. Mikhail leaned over to look at the machine. It wasn’t as if he could read anything on it. They leaned away a bit, but kept their eyes locked on the screen. Eventually the screen had something red pop up and Ian looked at him with a bit of fear. He tilted his head to try and show concern.
“You really aren’t human, are you?” Ian said.
Their voice had sounds of distress. Mikhail didn’t know what to do, but Ian pulled the book he’d been looking at close. They flipped the delicate pages recklessly, stopping on an image that matched their species. Mikhail couldn’t make sense of anything on the page, but he did realize it matched Ian. Ian pointed at themself.
“Human,” they said seriously. They pointed at him and shook their head. He had learned that was a negative implication. “Not human.”
It finally clicked in Mikhail’s head. That word was their species. He was finally making progress with this information. He mimicked the teeth baring again and nodded. He tried to form the right sounds, but he couldn’t make that first noise. He nodded the way Ian had been affirming things until now. He felt awful when Ian’s face seemed to change to something similar to the one from when he first found them.
Ian stood quickly and started walking away. Mikhail followed after them. They kept looking back at him and speeding up. They never moved too quickly, he wondered if this was the fastest the species moved. When they entered an area with a group Ian did slow down and looked back less. Once in the flora again they turned to stare at him. He would need to leave soon, but he was a bit worried.
“Ian?” he asked. The other… the human looked at him for a few minutes before falling to their knees.
“What do you want with me?” they yelled. He moved closer. He wasn’t sure what to do to assure them he wouldn’t harm them. He held out his hand to try and offer peace. Ian stared at it without moving. Mikhail decided to try and mimic their first meeting.
“Chooman Ian,” he said and gestured to them. He butchered the word, but it was the best he could do. He pressed his hands on his own chest. “Not chooman Mikhail.”
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Ian just stared at the apparent alien in front of him. He thought this was a sick joke. Guy found a homeless kid and thought it would be fun to mess with him. He stood up and pressed his finger into their chest. He glared up at the taller being. This would be a weird prank, although what they brought the second day sort of proves it’s not one.
“Fine, prove it. Show me your ship or whatever. Prove you aren’t human!” he yelled. Mik just looked confused until Ian groaned and had to think of a way to show what he wanted. He tried waving his arms towards the deeper woods hoping it would get across. Mik watched a bit before their face seemed to light up.
Mik started to walk away, stopping after a few steps to wait for him. He ran forward and stopped just behind them. They smiled, it was kind of weird when they did it wasn’t natural. Mik started to walk again and Ian just followed. He didn’t think it was smart to follow a strange potential alien off into the woods with the highest rate of disappearances, but he was doing it. The walk was a lot longer than he expected.
Ian was dumbfounded when they finally stopped. The thing was massive, at least as big if not bigger than the trees around them. He looked at Mik with a bit of fear again, maybe the guy was some kind of bait. Mik walked up and pressed their hand to the side of the ship, it had to be a ship at least. There was a light that appeared in a gigantic rectangle before the odd looking metal slowly lowered to the ground. Mik walked onto it and turned to face him again.
“Mik’s,” they said gesturing inside. So that meant this was their place, that was weirder than anything else. Mik started to walk in and turned back to see if Ian was following. He wasn’t sure it was the best idea, but he did follow.
Inside the place was hard to comprehend. It had a bunch of machinery on what looked like tables way too high up. Ian shivered, if this was Mik’s then they had a partner somewhere. It was the only explanation for how big this place was. The idea of being bait flit through his mind again. The chances of humans being kidnapped and raised to not know any human languages sounded possible.
Mikhail was pointing at things and miming some kind of action. He couldn’t make sense of it, but nodded along. The place felt a lot bigger inside than it looked, just like the tent they gave him. Mik just kept going deeper and deeper inside. Ian was getting worn out, he couldn’t understand how this stranger had so much stamina. Finally they entered a large space with things too high up for Ian to see.
He looked around to try and get a handle on it. There was a table with stuff he couldn’t see, but it reminded him of sci-fi movies. A plane looking bed that was dozens of feet off the ground. He looked at Mik for some understanding, but they just watched him. He walked over to the odd wall in the room, almost relieved when it opened and no one was inside. It looked almost like a shower, but not like the one in the place Mik gave him.
“Ian?” Mik asked. Ian jumped, this was too much. He wanted to go back to his dingy tent, the cloth one he bought. Now he couldn’t stop wondering if some giant hand was going to grab the nice one while he was in it. Mik just pointed at a corner and Ian started laughing.
“You just have a random pile of blankets? Is that why you tried to give me back the one I gave you?” he asked. Mik just tilted their head, Ian bit back another groan at the lack of understanding.
Ian settled for approaching the blanket pile. He paused after a few steps and looked back at Mik. They smiled that weird smile and didn’t move. He took that as an ok to keep going. The blanket pile was huge, he couldn’t tell where any of them ended. He placed one hand down and it was softer than anything he’d ever felt. The exhaustion building up in him seemed to bubble over at that point. He climbed onto the blankets and curled up on one.
“Is it cool if I just rest here for a bit?” he asked. Mik didn’t say anything, he usually didn’t. Ian just took it as an ok and closed his eyes. If they were going to kill him it would have happened by now, maybe whoever the giant one was wouldn’t be too bad either.
Ian had a dreamless sleep for the first time in years. He was pulled out of it by a rumble of the ground. He sat up rubbing his eyes trying to figure out what was going on. He only found a foot bigger than he could imagine standing near him. He chanced a look up and up and up until finally finding a face. He didn’t know he’d actually started screaming until the face turned to look at him.
He tried to scramble away, the soft blankets making it impossible. The strange red skin stood out to him first. Then the solid eyes that were such a dark green they looked black. The clothes the thing wore seemed similar to what humans wore and that was terrifying. He couldn’t place if it was on purpose or chance. The thing moved and the world shook as they took a step closer.
Ian tried to climb to his feet, but couldn’t get off the ground. The thing’s hand was surrounding him before he’d managed anything. Fingers bigger than him slipped under and pulled him from the soft surface. He tried to wriggle free, but the fingers seemed adept and handling things his size.
He couldn’t bring himself to make any more noises as he was brought to the table he couldn’t see over earlier. It was filled with strange machines and things that looked like needles. He’d been lured here for some awful dissection or something. The creature holding him placed him on a surface that reminded him of the frog dissections in school. He almost screamed when those impossible fingers pinned his limbs down.
It only took the thing one hand to hold him down. The other one was grabbing some strange looking object. Ian was shaking as it was brought close enough to press against him. It was angled to focus on his head. There was a loud noise and a light before it was pulled away from him. He let out a shaky breath as the fingers holding him down left too.
Ian watched in fear as the huge hands moved away from him. He couldn’t bring himself to move, terrified of the fingers pressing against him again. He just watched as what looked like Mik’s strange computer one hundred times bigger was used. He couldn’t read anything, but saw an image of himself followed by his brain on screen. He climbed to his feet and tried to run, but one of the hands stopped him.
The fingers were just covering him where he could still look ahead. In front of him something huge had started to form. He would have been under it if he kept running. He watched the weird light that seemed to create the object from nothing move to the side. It focused down to a significantly smaller area before a chime sounded.
The hand holding him back disappeared, but he didn’t move. The boom of a step made him shiver as the giant creature picked up the new object. He followed the hands up and saw how they attached it to where an ear would be for a human. He looked around, but he couldn’t find any. He almost wondered if it would be just a hole below the strange object. He was proved wrong as a wire from it was attached to something strange on the top of the creature’s head.
He stared as the creature fiddled with the protruding thing. It looked like a thick antenna. He just kept staring after the fiddling stopped, but the creature was staring down at him. He almost screamed as the hand came down again. It stopped by where the focused light had been and pushed something towards Ian. He looked on cautiously as something that looked like a bluetooth earpiece sat there.
“Do you want me to put this on?” he asked. He knew it was probably dumb to ask no way this weird giant could understand him when Mik couldn’t. This alien just looked almost like he brightened and nodded back at him. He sighed, it wasn’t like he could get away anyway. He walked over to the object and put it on. It really was like a bluetooth earpiece.
“Can you understand me now?” they asked. The voice was deep and masculine. He jumped and stared up in awe at the alien speaking perfect english. He stumbled back as the hands surrounded him again. “Ian? That was your name right? Had I been mistaken?”
“Who the fuck are you?!” he yelled.
The alien leaned closer and he wanted to run. He had no escape and he didn’t want to register any features of the monster in front of him. The thing lowered so he was face to eyes with it. The solid color was terrifying; he couldn't read anything through it. The weird thick antennae both seemed to press down on the head of black something. It didn’t quite seem like hair. The alien tilted their head and it became almost painfully clear who this alien might be. One of the hands moved to hold a finger out to Ian’s chest.
“Ian,” they said. The finger moved to point at the alien. “Mik.”
“You have to be joking. You… you’re Mik?!”
Mik set a hand down and Ian just stared at it. He watched as the solid eyes seemed to move slightly and he caught on. Ian set his hands on the palm. Mik hadn’t hurt him there was no reason to assume the worst. At least he hoped that was the truth. The skin beneath him felt more like satin. It didn’t even seem like his hand had lines in it like humans do. The fingers around him curled over his head.
He gasped as the hand was lifted when Mik stood up. He was definitely taller than the trees outside the weird ship. He was brought close to Mik’s chest as he moved. It was almost comforting, although behind him there was an arrhythmic beat. It seems like alien hearts didn’t work the same. Mik took a step and Ian almost screamed as the booming sound reached his ears.
“Did something happen? I did not think I was holding you wrong. This is how we carry each other at your size on my planet,” Mik said. Ian looked up at the face staring down at him. His face was almost too symmetrical. He started to understand what always looked wrong about his smile before.
“Your steps are loud, I was surprised,” Ian murmured. Lying didn’t seem worth it. He could feel the way Mik seemed to react, the muscles tensing under and around him.
“I see, it seems sound is processed differently between our species.”
Mik’s voice rumbled through him as he continued to mumble. The words were weird and the translator struggled to follow. Mik walked more and his steps continued to boom. Once he stopped Ian finally was placed down on the blankets again. He looked up as Mik moved back and sat down to face him. The weird antennae on his head were angled down and focused on Ian.
He yelped once the alien started to sit down. The sound of impact was louder than he expected. Mik seemed to grimace, but the face he made wasn’t right. The hand holding him moved away and further down to the ground. Suddenly the hand tipped. Ian tried not to fall, digging his nails in and seeing a bit of bright blue blood. It didn’t work, but he landed safely in the pile of blankets.
“S-so what’s going to happen now?” Ian asked. He stared up still processing the face staring down at him. It wasn’t innately threatening, but difficult to feel comfortable near. Ian tried not to look too terrified at him.
“I assumed you would want to rest again. The scan said you were safe. I don’t fully know the status of time on this planet. Daylight seems to run differently than mine,” Mik explained. Ian couldn’t stop a smile at how casual Mik was about it. An alien found a homeless kid and started worrying about him. It was nice, but he was scared too.
“What do you want from me? You’ve been helping me and I didn’t do anything for you.” Ian stood up to glare at the alien. Mik tilted his head in that clueless way he always did.
“My goal was to befriend a local in order to learn the language. I have grown more concerned seeing your lifestyle compared to others of your species.”
“So what happens with your concern?” Mik made a noise that Ian and the translator failed to understand.
“If you would like, you can stay here. I could use help to understand this place more before my kind makes contact to launch a large-scale study of the planet. The goal would be to ally with your kind which appears to be the dominant race.”
Ian felt his jaw drop. An alien found him alone in the woods and wants him as a fucking assistant. He’d get a place to stay, wouldn’t need to find a way to pay for school and could have a nice life. Mik hadn’t done anything wrong, even stopped him from getting crushed more than once. He gave up, laying back on the blankets and stared at the ship ceiling.
“Sure, I can try being an alien assistant. I guess I have a place to live at least, right?” Ian laughed. Mik leaned over him and he tried to stay calm as it happened. Sharp teeth were bared above him in a creepy attempt at a smile.
“Thank you, Ian.”