Big Bend (g/t)

Oatmeal

John

"Morning," I said as I stepped out of the elevator and onto Easton's desk. The giant was presently eating a bowl of oatmeal. He straightened up  upon seeing me, taking a moment to swallow before answering. He pushed the bowl away from both of us, towards the edge of the desk.

"Good morning," Easton said. 

"You don't have to stop eating," I said, glancing over towards the bowl.

"I was getting full anyways," Easton said with a small shrug. I raised my eyebrow at that, for two reasons. First, I'd noticed that Easton never ate around people - I had thought it might have been a coincidence the first few times, but by now I was fairly sure it was a purposeful choice.

The same way he tended to always smile with his mouth closed. It was a thoughtful gesture, but also not needed in regards to me. Second, I highly doubted Easton was actually full, if what I knew of Aphirial metabolisms was anywhere near correct.

Their size alone generally meant they were probably almost always hungry, I thought. Of course, food on Aphiria was more nutrient dense, and days on earth went by relatively fast, but I still doubted a few spoonfuls of oatmeal was enough.

"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm really not scared of you," I said, cutting to the point. Easton looked down, giving an awkward laugh.

"Was I that obvious?" I asked after a moment.

"A little," I said. "And I'm sure some of the other humans would appreciate the thoughtfulness, but you're not the first non-human being I've worked with. Or the scariest."

"Well, that's a refreshing change of pace," Easton said.

"Seriously, just eat the oatmeal," I said, a hint of amusement in my voice now.

"Thanks," Easton said gratefully, pulling the bowl of oatmeal back over towards him. "I mean, I totally get why people are a little...freaked out, generally. It's still nice when they're not, though."

"I think that's understandable," I said.

"This is entirely unrelated, but I was talking to my friends from New York earlier, and they mentioned coming to visit possibly," Easton said.

"Your human friends?" I asked. Easton nodded. "I'm still dying to know the story behind that one."

"It's a long one," Easton said. "I mean, I don't mind telling it, though."

"I have nowhere to be," I said with a shrug. "Besides, curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back."

"Well, we met, I think three years ago in human years. I'm bad at math, there's a reason I studied flowers. Anyways, they were in some trouble on Earth and ended up jumping through a portal they found."

"Jumping through a random portal. Must have been some trouble."

"Yeah, that's what I said too," Easton said. "It's more their story to tell than mine, but basically they were in a bad financial spot, and ended up falling in debt with some bad people. Like, seriously bad people. Jumping through the portal was a last resort. I was out for a walk along a trail near the portal and thought I heard voices, and obviously I offered to help them."

"I guess they're lucky you came along," I said. "How'd the other Aphirials take their presence?"

Easton looked down. "We didn't tell anyone for a while. I wasn't...sure how people would respond to them. We ended up telling my sister eventually, and she helped them get back to earth."

"Your sister's on the Earth-Aphirial committee that recommended you, isn't she?" I asked. I'd met her once, briefly. She'd seemed like pretty much the polar opposite of Easton - reserved, cold, more than a little calculating.

Easton gave an awkward laugh. "Yeah...go nepotism, I guess. I really didn't ask her to do that, I swear."

"Well, it doesn't seem like an undeserved recommendation, at least," I offered. "You seem to do a good job interacting with humans."

"I really try," Easton said. "I always wanted to see Earth, ever since we learned about it in school when I was a kid. I mean, you guys have such a diverse planet. Like, this park alone...it's gorgeous. Not to mention the people. There's so many of you, and so many different countries and languages and cultures...it's incredible."

"That's why you took the job, then?" 

"I guess so. It's kind of why I wanted to be a park ranger to start with," Easton said. "Getting to see new things, getting to share them with people. Seeing the same wonder I felt the first time I learned something...I love it. Why'd you decide to work for the IMA, if you don't mind me asking?"

I chuckled. "Well, I don't have nearly as touching  an answer. Joined the marines to afford college, and after multiple tours overseas, ended up being recommended for recruitment for the IMA. I like the job, though. Like you said, there's always something new."

"Like a giant alien park ranger?" Easton asked, amusement in his voice.

"Among other things," I said with a smile. "So, what was that about your friends coming to visit, before we got sidetracked?"

"Hm? Oh, right! They were saying they might come visit for the Fourth of July. That's another thing I love about Earth - all the new holidays."

"Does Aphiria have holidays?"

Easton nodded. "We do. Not as many, though. At least the main ones. They're based on the solstices there."

"That sounds interesting. You know, I think you know far more about Earth than I do Aphiria," I said.

"Well, I'm always happy to ramble about it anytime you're curious," Easton said. "I feel like that's probably the case for most humans. There's not a lot of like, academic or historical research. The only reason I know most of what I know is the friends I mentioned."

"Suppose that's true. I don't think most humans have even met an Aphirial. Though, that's probably changed if they've come to the park recently," I said.

"Likewise with Aphirials and humans. I think all we really learned in school was like, 'mysterious tiny planet'," Easton said.

"Well, there might be a bit more lore about Aphiria floating around on this end, but I wouldn't assume any of it was particularly truthful."

"Yeah...I've heard some of those stories," Easton said. "And seen how people generally react to me at first. Not that I can blame them - I mean, there is some truth to the whole carnivorous giant alien thing. I'm sure I'd be a little freaked out too if I was on the other end of things. If anything I appreciate the effort to not just like, run away screaming."

"Well, like I said - you don't have to worry about that in regards to me, at least. Hate to break it to you, but you're really not that scary," I said with a laugh. He laughed too, and for the first time, I felt like his smile might actually be genuine.