Don't Panic (Jalex)

Giant Purple People Eater

The beach the next afternoon is bright and sunny and probably the last place Alex wants to be right now, given the storm cloud currently hovering over his head. But it's also the only place that didn't hold too many memories of Jack.

So down to the beach he went, sporting a gray t-shirt and a pair of swim trunks and carrying his acoustic guitar along with him.

Sitting with his legs crossed on the sand, he strums away, humming the melody he's been working on to match the chord progression.

As he does this, he doesn't notice the giant yellow eyes peeking out from just above the waves like giant, neon yellow beach balls that someone had lost.

Alex curses when he drops his pick into the sand. He's strumming too hard again. He needs to loosen up or he's going to lose his pick to the sound hole again. He grabs the pick and the frowns. It's Jack's pick. He can tell because of the Jack Skellington picture grinning back at him from the tiny plastic object.

Alex considers throwing it into the ocean for a while, but he knows Jack will never forgive Alex if he loses this one. So Alex just shoves it in his pocket and proceeds to play without a pick.

A giant purple head pops up from beneath the waves, but Alex doesn't notice. He's too focused on trying to come up with lyrics to match the melody.

As the creature swims forward, Alex ignores it. Even with a giant shadow looming over him, he keeps playing. He doesn't even question why the light suddenly dimmed around him.

Alex's eyes aren't closed as he strums away, wracking his brain for anything he possibly wants to spit out in song form.
He doesn't see the purple tentacle inching its way toward him and the guitar.

Not until it affects his playing.

The octopus creature with three giant, yellow eyes strums a few of the strings, causing Alex to mess up pretty badly. He looks down to see the last blur of purple as the thing pulls its arm back.

Alex jumps away from the creature, dropping his guitar in the sand. The octopus then wraps it's tentacle around Alex's middle and pulls him to his feet.
Alex isn't really sure what to do.

After a few seconds of both man and octopus just staring, the purple creature picks up the guitar and shoves it into Alex's arms. Alex nearly drops it, but manages to readjust the instrument so that he's holding it correctly. Then the octopus thing pats Alex on the head and smiles, revealing a razor sharp grin of yellow-ish fangs.

Alex, not really sure what the fuck he's supposed to do in situations like this, sits down in the sand once more and hesitantly strums a chord. The octopus swims in circles excitedly before returning to look at Alex with a childlike excitement that Alex hadn't seen since he had last spoken to a fan.

He hesitates for a moment before deciding to play remembering Sunday. The song was so simple he could play it in his sleep, and right now he wanted to be sure he could see the giant monster at all times.
But at the second chorus, Alex felt himself relax. The creature meant him no harm and seemed to share the same love of music as Alex.

The monster seems pleased with the music, but visibly deflates when Alex finishes the song.

Alex gets up to leave, but stops when the creature whimpers.
Alex smiles a bit. "You like music, huh?" He asks. "Me too."
The octopus tilts it's giant, purple head curiously.
"So did my boyfriend, actually. Well... I dunno maybe he's my- nevermind." Alex shakes his head, strums a few chords, and then looks back up at the monster. "Have you ever been in love?" Alex asks.
The creature looks confused now.

Of course, Alex thinks, why the fuck would an alien monster even know what love is?

"Maybe animals don't feel love the same way humans do," Alex mutters, mostly to himself. "It's probably more just to reproduce than to actually be with someone you care about."

Alex plays a few more chords as he feels his eyes begin to sting with tears.

"Do you even know what love feels like?" He asks the octopus. "It's like... It's like flying. You get this warm fuzzy feeling whenever you're with them. You think nothing will ever tear you apart, even though you know the worlds full of things that could ruin everything. But you keep hoping...
"It's like you've found a part of you in someone else. It's like you found the missing sock you didn't even know was lost. It's when you finally finish the puzzle you've been working on for days, it's..." Alex sighs. "It's stupid."

He sets his guitar down and stands up.

"Love is fucking stupid!" He shakes his head and starts walking to his left, throwing his hands up into the air in frustration. "I mean, why do humans feel love anyway? Aren't we supposed to care about reproduction? Isn't that our purpose? How come we have to make it so complicated?"

Alex turns to the monster, who looks back at him sympathetically. "I'm fucking gay!" He shouts. "Or bi... I fell in love with a guy! I can't fucking produce a child with him!"

He shakes his head again,turning around. He's pacing now.

"I mean... I would never leave him but- but he left me... but I told him to go and- I told him to forget-" Alex ignores the tightness in his throat as he half chokes out words, "to forget about us...."

The tears that had been welling up in his eyes begin to spill out and slide down his face.

"It's all fucked!" He shouts. "It's all fucked, and I'm a fucking dumbass!"

Alex plops down in the sand and pulls his knees to his chest. "I shouldn't have blown up. Maybe- maybe if I had just... I dunno. I'm an idiot. I should've just listened to Jack. But I'm a dumbass and I just didn't."

He looks up at the octopus with vision blurred by tears. "Sorry," Alex says. "You probably just wanted me to play you something on my guitar."
The octopus whimpers sadly and then pats Alex on the head.
Alex laughs under his breath. "Thanks man-" he pauses. "Can I call you 'man'?"

The creature doesn't even seem to understand what he's saying.

"Do you have a name?" Alex asks, receiving no answer. "Uh, okay. How about Rian- er, no that's my friend's name. What about Kyle. Gross. Nevermind."
Alex thinks for a moment. "What about Grape?"
The octopus growls at him and Alex jumps back. "Okay!" He says quickly. "Not that. Uhh... what about Steven? No, that's no good. What about Richard?"
The creature thinks for a moment before smiling a big, toothy grin.

"Richard it is then!" He announces. "I'm Alex."

Alex walks back over to his guitar.

"It's getting late and I told my friend I'd be back by dinner. I'll be back tomorrow, okay Richard?"
Richard nods and then disappears beneath the waves.

Alex stands there on the beach by himself for a good while before turning around to walk back to the hotel.

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