Your Kiss Is Cosmic

In June of 2015, Vic is sent to Earth.

It’s a fairly difficult process in the beginning, first changing his body so that it looks like a human’s, then giving himself a human name, then landing in a subtle manner and forced to find a job in an attempt to blend in more. He needs a house and car, too, but that’s not as much of a problem; the spaceship that he used was designed to transform into a fully-functioning two-story house upon arrival in a grassy field, and he’s already had a car built that’s quite similar to most human vehicles. It’s a strange and fascinating planet, with the way that everything is organized, and Vic thinks he could learn to enjoy his mission here, even though he sort of misses his home and also has yet to understand the humans’ ideas of sex and gender. Nevertheless, he thinks he has created his human identity quite skillfully—Victor Vincent Fuentes, twenty-four-year-old cisgender male, five foot six (more or less) and of Mexican and Irish descent. Would it be vain to praise himself for studying humans for so long, for shifting his body into one that looks human, for picking up on mannerisms and languages and customs foreign to his planet? Maybe. But that’s not going to stop him from doing it.

They’re not planning some sort of invasion as many humans would like to believe; they’re really not. Vic has been sent here to get a closer and more personal look, to observe the humans from within. They study humans for the same reason that humans study wild animals: to learn more about them, simply because they find them fascinating. They’re not planning on an attack and they’re not planning on taking over Earth; they’ve got their own planet already. Besides, the humans would probably cause more chaos than it’s worth.

At this point, Vic has been here for approximately five Earth days, but today is his first day at his human job, a run-down pizza parlor that pretty much hired him on the spot because they were so desperate for workers. Vic would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little excited; this is where he gets to see humans in their natural habitat (even more so than usual), and he’d also be gathering more info on how places like these are run. He’ll admit—humans might be dangerous and unpredictable, but they’ve done a fairly decent job of designing their world.

He comes in wearing the greasy red shirt that they gave him as his uniform, smiling in a way that he hopes looks friendly and approachable. A man by the name of Ray (his “boss”) nods at him and motions for him to come over, leading him into the back area and proceeding to introduce him to other workers and explain to him what it is that he’s supposed to do—he’s signed up to be a driver delivering pizzas around town. “Kellin!” Ray then calls.

A few seconds later, a small, bouncy young man with dark, wavy hair pops up at his side. “What? Is this about the new guy?”

“Yep.” Ray gestures to Vic. “You’re training him today. Don’t scare him off.”

“I won’t,” Kellin replies as Ray walks away. Then he turns to Vic. “Pro tip: don’t eat too much of the pizza, even if you can. You’ll get sick of it pretty quickly.”

With that, Kellin takes Vic around the place at first, explaining how the technology and deliveries work. Vic normally wouldn’t pay as much attention as he does—he’s pretty sure he’d be able to figure most of it out on his own anyway—but Kellin is oddly fascinating, even more than humans usually are. He’s energetic and talks fast, capturing attention no matter what comes out of his mouth. He’s probably very well-liked.

“Okay, I’m gonna take this first delivery,” he says, leading Vic out to one of the cars and climbing into the driver’s seat while Vic takes the passenger side. “Watch and learn. What kind of music do you like? It better not be country.”

Vic laughs a little, and the weird thing is that he doesn’t even have to think about it; he just laughs. “Uh, I’m cool with whatever,” he says, sounding even more like a human than he expected. He’s been fairly good at acting like one, but this feels almost effortless. Is this guy rubbing off on him already? It’s barely been five minutes.

Kellin starts to play some punk-sounding record that Vic should probably know but doesn’t. “So, Vic, what brings you to our humble abode?” he asks as he pulls out of the parking lot and hops onto the main road, referring to the pizza parlor.

“Just needed money,” Vic says dismissively; there’s no way he’s telling a human that he’s, well, an alien (as they call him). First of all, it would blow his cover. Secondly, most people probably wouldn’t even believe him.

After Kellin shows Vic how it’s done (it’s almost too easy), the two of them take turns delivering for the entire shift, staying together the entire time and chatting amiably. Kellin certainly knows how to start a conversation and keep it going, and Vic finds himself genuinely interested in their discussions. He promised himself that he wouldn’t let any emotions get involved in his job—humans might argue otherwise, but as for Vic, he and the rest of his kind certainly do experience emotions—but he’s starting to realize that these emotions might help him blend in more.

After the shift is over, Kellin flashes him a grin and says, “You’re pretty cool. We should hang sometime, if you wanted to.”

“Of course,” Vic replies without really thinking it through. It’s only once the words are out of his mouth that he realizes that, yes, that would be a very good way to learn how humans interact when they’re acquaintances or friends. What kind of freaks him out, though, is the fact that that wasn’t his original thought. That wasn’t his reasoning for saying yes. He said yes just because he wanted to.

“Awesome!” Kellin says, holding his hand up for what Vic knows is a high-five. “How about after my shift tomorrow?”

“I’m on that shift, too,” Vic replies, giving him a tiny smile that feels weirdly natural. “So yeah. That’d be good.”

He almost can’t believe himself.

—

Vic tries not to think too much about all this when he returns to work the next day. He and Kellin drive separately now, since last night was just his training, so it’s not as enjoyable as it was when they could talk to each other. It’s not bad, though; after all, this is what he came for. He came to act like a human, and that’s what he’s going to do.

At the end of the shift, Kellin meets up with Vic in front of the parlor. “So, some of my friends are going to go see a movie,” Kellin says. “Would you want to go? If not, we can totally do something else, but…”

“No, a movie sounds good,” Vic assures him. In all honesty, he doesn’t really care what they do. Anything is an opportunity for extensive research, and besides, Kellin could probably make anything interesting.

He should not be thinking like that, though. Emotions are one thing, but forming an attachment to a human? He can’t allow for it.

When they get to the movie theater, they’re greeted by two other guys, Jack and Gabe, who seem to accept Vic wholeheartedly (while making jokes about how Kellin is finally going to “get some,” which Vic is fairly certain is some sort of sexual innuendo). Vic gets along well with them, too, but he still tries to stay with Kellin for the most part. Once they’ve all gotten their food and are seated inside the theater for a movie Vic doesn’t know much about, Kellin turns to him and says, “So, what do you think about outer space?”

“Oh, no,” Jack says from where he’s sitting on Kellin’s other side. “Vic, run. This question is how he decides whether or not to sleep with you.”

“Shut up!” Kellin says, laughing and smacking him before turning back to Vic.

“Um, it’s pretty cool,” Vic says truthfully. Outer space is a pretty broad subject, but he knows a lot about it, considering that, well, he’s from another planet.

“How cool is ‘pretty cool,’ then? Cool enough for me to talk about it for, like, hours?”

Vic can’t help but think, weirdly, that he’d probably let Kellin talk about anything for hours. “Yeah, totally,” he says, giving him a reassuring smile that, once again, feels strangely effortless. “Talk to me about the stars and the universe as much as you want.”

Kellin makes a face, seeming to consider something for a moment. Then: “Do you believe in aliens?”

“Okay, I lied,” Jack interrupts again. “This question is how he decides whether or not to sleep with you.”

“Fuck off,” Kellin says pleasantly.

At this point, Vic’s sort of nervous that Kellin might have figured him out somehow, but he doesn’t dwell on it too much. “Of course I do,” he says, before realizing that maybe lying would have been better to keep anyone from being suspicious. Now that the words are out of his mouth, though, he decides to continue his thought: “I mean, the universe is so vast and so infinite. How could you possibly believe that your planet is the only one out there to hold any semblance of life?”

“Exactly!” Kellin says excitedly, grinning widely. “Finally, someone who agrees with me.”

Yeah, Vic definitely likes this human. And that’s scary.

—

For the next week or so, Kellin and Vic talk at work as much as they can without getting yelled at, and then they hang out somewhere after their shifts most nights, though it’s usually with other people. Vic’s been doing other things on the side, going to other places, making as many observations as possible, but he’s finding that far too much of his attention is directed at Kellin. It really shouldn’t be that bad, because befriending a human is a surefire way to get information, but he knows he can’t risk feeling anything for this guy…and yet, that doesn’t stop him.

He’s pretty sure that Kellin’s growing attached to him, too, judging by the way he looks at him and acts around him. Though human mannerisms are quite a bit different from his, the implications are the same. Part of him hopes that this won’t turn into anything, and another part of him wonders what would happen if it did.

“Hey, um, Vic?” Kellin says one evening after another shift, sounding a bit shy for the first time since Vic’s known him.

“What’s up?” Vic asks casually, leaning against the window outside of the pizza parlor. He’s never really understood these types of phrases in the English language, but if it works, it works.

Kellin pushes a few pieces of hair out of his face, his cheeks slightly pink. “There’s this little park nearby, and I was wondering if you’d wanna, like, hang there for a little bit? Just us? I mean, my other friends are busy, and I probably shouldn’t be spending money at movies and stuff, so—”

“Yeah, that sounds great,” Vic interrupts, saving Kellin from feeling any more awkward than he already probably does. “Absolutely.”

The park isn’t very large, with a small playground for children along with a field and a few benches and picnic tables. Kellin, of course, opts for a spot on the grass in the middle of the field, not at all bothered by dirt or possible bugs. The sky is already fairly dark and getting darker, and there are fireflies all around them, little lights decorating the air. Vic has to admit that it’s quite subtly beautiful, in a way that he never gets to see.

He sits down next to Kellin, who has taken to reaching his hand out and trying to catch any fireflies that happen to fly past. “Oh, sorry,” Kellin says. “If you wanna sit at a bench or a table or something, we can.”

“I don’t mind,” Vic replies, and he means it.

As the sun goes down and the stars start to appear, Kellin switches from sitting to lying down on his back, his hands behind his head as he gazes up at the sky. Vic matches his position, and as he stares, he can’t help but think about home. Somewhere out there is his home, and here he is with Kellin, growing attached to him even though he’s so far away.

They talk just like they always do, but it’s quieter, more comfortable. At a lull in the conversation, Kellin turns his head to look at Vic, and everything about him—the way the moon shines on his skin, the pink of his lips, the messiness of his hair, the stars in his eyes—is just so attractive in an almost ethereal sort of way. Vic’s not used to finding humans even remotely eye-pleasing, let alone this sort of attractive, but maybe it’s just that he knows Kellin a little bit better now. Maybe it’s just that Kellin was average for a human at first, but his personality in itself makes him attractive.

“You know, you’re quite adorable,” he says in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, as if he is a connoisseur of adorable things. He means it, though. He means almost everything he says to Kellin.

Kellin’s cheeks turn pink again, and a smile crosses his face. His eyes trail down to Vic’s lips, biting his own, and all of a sudden Vic realizes that Kellin might be thinking about kissing him. It’s probably one of the strangest (yet oddly appealing) human customs Vic has ever seen; it’s known pretty much everywhere on Earth that touching one’s lips to another person’s is a sign of affection, and Vic has never completely understood it. But he kind of wants to.

Maybe he’s been on this planet for too long.

Kellin leans in, a questioning look in his eyes, and Vic just nods, an indication that, yes, he can do what he wants to do. When their lips touch, it’s not as weird as Vic thought it would be; it’s soft and gentle and now he can sort of understand why it’s seen as a show of affection. It lights up something in him, a soft sort of glow, and he likes it more than he should.

Kellin pulls away a few seconds later. “Shit,” he mutters, as if only just now realizing what just happened.

“It’s fine,” Vic assures him. “It’s fine. I liked it.”

When Kellin smiles, Vic decides that maybe taking a risk wouldn’t be too terrible of an idea. Or maybe it’ll be the worst idea he’s ever had. Could it end in flames if he keeps up what they’ve got going? Maybe. But that’s not going to stop him from doing it.