Eyes on You

A Few White Lies Shouldn't Hurt Like This

     Xalnurron woke with a start. He had a nightmare. The
same one he'd been having for months. He felt ridiculous and
pathetic. He was the guardian of nightmares and shadows, and
he could barely sleep because of nightmares. He could literally
control nightmares, but they kept waking him up.

     "You alright?" Galnara asked him. He'd forgotten that he
was at her place.

     "Yeah... Fine," he replied, trying not to make it sound like
he was lying.

     "You just looked a bit startled," she said, sounding slightly
concerned.

     "Not sure what made you think that," he lied. It felt wrong,
lying to her. He knew she would never lie to him.

     "What do you want to do, then?" Galnara asked.

     "Not sure," he said simply, grateful for the change of
subject. They sat in silence for a minute or two. Galnara broke
the silence.

     "You know, these past few centuries have been really
interesting, with humanity so interested in the universe. I
wonder how they'll react when they realize that aliens aren't green."

     "The conspiracy theorists will be shocked," Xalnurron replied,
smiling. Galnara chuckled at this.

     "What's your favorite holiday?" Galnara asked him.

     "Definitely not Halloween," he said. "Anyone who knows
what I can do ends up asking me to help scare people."

     "That doesn't answer my question, though," she replied.

     "Let me think..." he said. "Has to be New Year's day. Lots of
excitement, fireworks, and light."

     "I like Christmas," Galnara said simply.

     "Why?" Xalnurron asked.

     "I can throw snow at people," she replied calmly. Xalnurron
burst into laughter, and Galnara smiled at him.

     "Hold on, I'll be right back," she said, standing up.

     "Where are you going?" Xalnurron asked her, confused.

     "I'm gonna get some ice cream," she answered.

     "Ice cream? Have you even eaten breakfast?" He inquired.

     "No. Do you have a problem with that?" Galnara asked.
Xalnurron paused for a second.

     "No. Actually, could you get me some, too?" he finally
asked her.

     "Sure," she replied, leaving the room. A few minutes later,
she returned with two bowls of ice cream.

     "Catch!" she shouted, throwing Xalnurron his bowl. He
fumbled to catch it, caught off guard.

     "Why the heck did you throw it at me?!" he shouted,
nearly dropping the bowl.

     "Because it's funny," Galnara said, laughing. Xalnurron was
a bit frustrated but also a bit amused. Galnara walked over and
sat next to him, taking a bite of her ice cream. They sat in
silence for a few minutes. Xalnurron grabbed his phone and
started playing a game while eating his ice cream.

     "So," Galnara broke the silence. "I've filled you in on what's
been going on in my life, but you haven't told me anything
that's been going on with you."

     "I dunno." Galnara looked confused when he said this. "It's
really stressful. I dunno where to start." He shrugged. He didn't
want to talk about his nightmares. It was always a bit fuzzy
when he woke up, but there was a fight on the beach, and there
was blood. He also didn't want to talk about how the only time
he went outside was when he went to parties.