12D-3 pulled the blanket tighter around himself, burying his face in Murdoc’s pillow as he tried to slow his breathing. The now familiar smell of smoke and rum did nothing to calm his nerves.
“He’s coming back, he’s just going to talk to his friend,” he whispered to no one in particular. A faint hissing sound echoed from the busted up radio sitting just a few feet away on the coffee table. The bent antenna made it nearly impossible to pick up any proper signal, but the silence had been too deafening to bear, so the alien left it alone.
“He’s coming back, he wouldn’t just leave me here.” 12D-3 closed his eyes, trying to ignore the painful absence of the man he’d so quickly become attached to. They’d only known each other for a few days, so why did he feel this way? “I know I always got scared when the scientists left me alone, but never like this...why is this any different? I knew them my whole life, but I haven’t even known Murdoc for a week...”
Hours had passed, and Murdoc still had not returned. 12D-3 kept his gaze fixated on the clock before him, watching every second tick by. The incessant ticking was making his skin crawl. Why did time have to pass so damn slowly?!
“He’s coming back, he wouldn’t just leave his home here. Surely he’d have packed his things if he planned to leave.” It was starting to get late. He needed something...ANYTHING to distract him from the growing dread that threatened to fully overtake him. Looking around, his gaze settled on an odd rectangular object with black and white markings. “A synth, he called it? Hm.” Finally getting out of bed, 12D-3 skittered over to the object and inspected it. It was absolutely covered in buttons. He began pressing them at random until it finally lit up. 12D-3 sucked in a deep breath before pressing one of the keys. An odd bloopy noise rang out, startling him for a moment. His tendrils perked up in interest as he tilted his head and leaned forward. He pressed another key. Bloop.
“He’s coming back. He wouldn’t leave something like this behind.” 12D-3 smiled and began playing the keys at random. A few sounds didn’t seem to go together very well, but others did. His anxiety persisted, but slowly began to fade. Pressing a few different buttons made the sound change. Some he liked, others he didn’t. But it was fun to experiment. The noise was a nice change of pace. 12D-3 hadn’t been fiddling with the keyboard for more than 20 minutes when a low rumbling sound caught his attention. His feelers stiffened as he pulled his hood over his head, ducking under a table away from the windows. The rumbling noise got louder and louder before finally sputtering to a halt. 12D-3 sucked in a deep breath as footsteps crunched through gravel, approaching the door to the Winnebago. Eyes widened in fear, he shrank back against the wall, clamping a hand over his mouth to muffle the sound of his own breathing. A few indecipherable curses and the jangling of keys gave him pause. Click.
“Ah, there we go.” A familiar low grumble brought a big smile to 12D-3’s face as the front door swung open. He scrambled out from under the table just as the lights flipped on. “Yeah, so uh, don’t scream or anything.” 12D-3’s gaze fixated on mismatched eyes and he leapt up to his feet.
“MURDOC!” 12D-3 yelled gleefully as he ran across the RV and flung his arms around the human’s neck. Murdoc let out an oof and stumbled back, bracing himself with a hand against the doorframe and wrapping his other arm around the alien. “Whoa there, mate. Don’t knock me out the fuckin’ Winnie, yeah?” Murdoc chuckled as he patted 2D on the back. The alien chirped happily as he squeezed the man even tighter. “Don’t choke me, either.” 12D-3 froze and let go, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.
“Sorry, got a bit excited there.” He offered an apologetic smile before glancing behind Murdoc quizzically. “Who’s that?” A broad man with dark skin and gleaming white eyes stood in the doorway, completely shellshocked as their eyes met. Murdoc grinned toothily. “This is the friend I told you about.” Murdoc clapped his hands together and spun around. “Russ, meet Specimen 12D-3. A legitimate extraterrestrial being. Marvelous, isn’t he?” 12D-3 peeked from around Murdoc, waving shyly at the new human with a gentle hello. Russel apparently didn’t take the greeting too well, as he proceeded to pass the fuck out. 12D-3 lowered his hand apprehensively as the human hit the ground.
“...I didn’t kill him, did I?” 12D-3 fretted as he stepped around Murdoc and nudged the pudgy man with his foot. Murdoc snorted. “Nah, he’s just sleeping. Americans do that sometimes. Just leave him, we won’t be able to drag him in. Probably need a forklift for that,” he chuckled darkly as he shook his head and headed for the kitchen area. Rather than asking what an american or a forklift was, 12D-3 followed his human and sat down at the table towards the back of the Winnebago. Murdoc plopped down across from him with two beers, offering one with a smirk. 12D-3 shook his head politely, to which Murdoc just shrugged and popped one open. “So, uh...you were rather excited to see me.”
“You were gone a long time. I thought you weren’t gonna come back, that you just left me here or something,” 12D-3 stated matter-of-factly. Murdoc froze. “B-but you did! You did come back. So it’s all okay now!” The alien smiled nervously, his tendrils twitching erratically. The man before him narrowed his eyes before taking a deep breath and setting the can down.
“Mate, I...” Murdoc sighed as he lowered his head. A moment of silence passed before Murdoc raised his head again, eyes burning with intensity as he reached for 12D-3’s hand. “I told you I’m gonna protect you, keep you safe. I’m not gonna just leave you somewhere, alright? I’m Murdoc fucking Niccals. I may be a bastard, but I don’t break my promises.” He squeezed the alien’s hand gently. “And I promise I’ll always come back.” 12D-3’s vision blurred as tears welled up in his eyes.
“I...th-thank you.” 12D-3 squeezed back with a tearful smile. “N-nobody’s ever said anything like that to me before.” Murdoc raised an eyebrow. “Not gonna lie, mate. That’s kinda fucking sad.” Murdoc barked a laugh. “You’re not used to people saying nice stuff to you, eh? Guess that makes two of us. Let’s change that, yeah?” 12D-3 nodded fervently, leaning forward with a soft smile as he gazed deeply into Murdoc’s crimson eye. A loud creak startled them, and they turned to see Russel looming in the doorway.
“That’s sweet and all, really pure and touching. But for the love of God, will you properly explain to me what the hell is going on?” The man squinted at Murdoc as he stepped into the Winnebago and let the door slam shut behind him. Murdoc nodded and took a gulp of his beer.
“Gladly. Now sit the fuck down and listen carefully.”
