Why Is There An Alien Princess In My Room? (ONC 2023 - Alien Romance - Complete)

10: Tristan Asks A Friend

Unfortunately, housing a lost alien princess in your dorm room didn't seem like a proper excuse for being absent from work, so despite the extraterrestrial situation going on at home, Tristan had made his way to the mall cinema, where he worked five nights a week, leaving Vyrsa at home with Bobby to read data from his laptop.

That didn't mean his thoughts didn't constantly go to the sparkling entity who had materialized in his bedroom two nights ago. He wanted to know all about the place from which she hailed, the complicated universe surrounding it, and the advanced technologies making traveling within it possible. But most of all, he wanted to know about her. What were Vyrsa's desires and dreams? Were they far from his own?

He couldn't quite figure out how to approach her though. Not knowing her customs, he didn't want to accidentally step on any toes (if her species even had those?). So he'd made sure to give her space and not force himself upon her by offering her Yeong's room to sleep in. He'd thought that maybe they were building a connection when they watched Star Trek together but after that, she'd become distant, focusing only on scanning data about Earth. Which was understandable, as it was her only possibility to find a way home, which Tristan of course would never want to prevent her from. Still, he couldn't help but wish for the information retrieval process to take long enough for them to allow time to get more acquainted with each other.

The confusing emotions about his unusual guest were about to fizzle over, like the often-malfunctioning drink fountains at the movie theater that could suddenly shower guests in sugary sweet liquid. But it wasn't an unsuspecting guest who would be the victim of Tristan bubbling over.

"Robin, can I ask you something?" Tristan leaned back and jumped up on one of the snack-filled fridges behind the ticket counter. All prime-time showings of the night had started, which meant he and his coworker/former high school classmate/quiz bowl rival/burgeoning friend had a few moments of relative calm before it was time to clean up at the aftermath of the customer's joyous evening.

"Sure," Robin replied, wiping off the counter from popcorn grease. "What is it?"

"It's... about a girl," Tristan admitted, looking down at his hands. There was a faint trace of glitter sprinkled across the light brown skin. Had Vyrsa left her imprint on him somehow?

Robin jumped up on the now clean counter to face Tristan. "I'm hardly the one to ask about girls..." he mumbled, a slight blush shading his cheeks. "Not really my area of expertise, so to say."

"I know you're gay, Robin." Tristan chuckled at the mere notion that he wouldn't have picked up on this fact. "I mean, your boyfriend comes by here all the time. And that's kind of the reason I ask... Since you landed a hot boyfriend, I figured you would know how to approach someone that you like. I don't think the gender of the person really matters in that regard."

"Maybe," Robin reluctantly agreed. "I mean, Ty is very hot." A goofy smile appeared on his lips at the mere thought of his boyfriend.

"Earth to Robin!" Tristan called out, which was quite an appropriate remark considering the extraplanetary nature of his own love life. "You can swoon about your boyfriend later. I need your advice before the next customer comes by for popcorn."

Robin shook his head slightly to center himself. "So what is the issue, Tris?" he asked. "You never seem to have trouble talking to anyone. What is different with this girl?"

What wasn't different with Vyrsa? She certainly wasn't like any other girl on this planet.

"She's... not from here," Tristan mumbled, trying to express his dilemma without revealing that aliens were in fact real and among us. That seemed like a bit much to blurt out between popcorn machines and snack displays. "She's just visiting and she needs to go home soon."