Terrestrial Alien ✔

Chapter 42: Take A Moment

Joshua

It probably comes as no surprise to hear I don't sleep a wink that night. I can't.

I remain under this creature all night, wide awake. Even when my heart rate slows and my clammy sweating cools, I only settle into a tense stillness. Exhaustion pulls at me every hour that sloughs by, but I can't nod off: every time the creature shifts or snorts in its sleep, I jolt wide awake again.

So of course I notice when he changes back. The back of my eye sockets feel like they're burning, and I have to blink a couple times before I realise what's happening.

In the darkness, Sundo sighs, and his monstrous body begins to shift and shrink. I stare as his bones slip back into his skin, and his beautiful face reappears. His brow is tense, but as he changes back fully, he relaxes, and I can't look away from his sleeping face. His eyes gently closed, his lips slightly parted, his hair a tousled mess. He looks nothing like the monster he'd been only seconds ago.

He shifts in my lap, his shoulders coming to rest near my side, his head touching my hip. My whole body stiffens.

Logically, I know he's not going to hurt me, but still I can't help the reaction. It's an instinctive flinch.

I can relax a little more now, though, that he looks... vaguely human again. It's a strange duality.

After all the excitement and panic of the day, I can hardly keep my eyes from drooping now that the immediate danger has gone. By the time the room is starting to brighten with the first rays of a new day—it's wild to think it's already tomorrow—I'm hardly awake.

But then Sundo begins to stir.

I blink my eyes open, gazing blearily down at him as he groans softly, curling up against me tighter. Sunlight streaks across his body, lighting up the wood floors of his bedroom. I feel like I'm waking up from a nightmare.

Sundo blinks, gazing groggily out with a moment of confusion, before he turns and looks up at me. His head against my hip, his gaze meets mine, and those eyes brighten. He smiles.

"Hey," he murmurs.

In his voice is such affection and fondness, and it makes something in my chest tighten.

"Hey." I reply, my voice hoarse and strained.

Sundo tilts his head, unfurling his legs from their curled up position as he stretches in a languid, feline manner. He rubs an eye with one curled up hand, and he looks content.

Part of me is happy for him.

Another part of me, the ugly part, deep down, resents his good mood. While he was comfortable, without a care in his alien world, I was enduring a hellish night, uncomfortable and tied up as my worst nightmare dozed off in my lap. My knees are starting to cramp now, and I've long since stopped having feeling in my feet.

Pushing himself up with his palms, Sundo leans up with something that sounds very similar to a purr, tilting his head towards mine.

"Mm, hey, Joshua... It worked. We did it. And we're both still in one piece." He hums, pulling his body up so close to mine.

"Yeah." I barely manage to croak, and Sundo gives me a gleeful little smile.

"Mmn." His head tilts closer, and I know he's leaning in to kiss me. My heart lurches into my throat.

"Wait." I choke, turning my head away from him. "Please. Not right now."

From my peripheral vision, I can see his features draw up with surprise. Emotions I can't see well enough to decipher flicker across his features, and when I finally bring my gaze back to his, I find he's settled on guilty resignation.