[Dedicated to gorgeous-mermaid for the lovely fanart above!]

JASON WAS AT THE DOOR in a flash, his eyes wide with fright and a strangled yelp escaping his throat. He slammed the door after him, and I just looked on in annoyance. I'd never known my friend to most quite as fast. With a sigh, I glanced round at Louis. His hand dropped to his side in defeat and he looked to me with worried eyes.

"It's alright," I told him. "He just couldn't handle your awesomeness."

Louis frowned in confusion. "Is that even a word?"

"Yes," I said. "I like that word."

I took the three mugs of tea into the kitchen and rinsed them out as quickly as I could. I knew Jason would be back. After the initial shock of witnessing alien life had subsided, he's be rushing back in no time to learn more. I knew him too well, and with a look up at the clock, I'd give him five minutes max before his return.

"Did I scare him?" Louis asked after having crept up beside me. 

I turned and gave him a soft smile. "It's fine. He's just a little frightened after meeting an alien, most likely."

"But you weren't frightened of me so much as curious," Louis said.

I could recall that day as if it were yesterday. He was right; I'd been simply curious, not afraid of him. I wasn't really one to feel fear, and I was thankful for that, but I couldn't lie about how terrifying it had been to see the Councillors land on my home planet. That had been the only time in years I'd felt scared of something.

I was thankful for not being like my mother, because she was pretty much scared of anything that moved. I couldn't have been more thankful to have inherited my father's back-bone or I'd be running scared of my own shadow.   

"I don't get scared easily," I admitted with a shrug. "I've always been curious."

"Oh," Louis muttered. "What was the last thing to scare you?"

"The Councillors," I told him.

He just nodded and said, "You're right to be afraid of them."

He took a seat down at the kitchen table and I sat down opposite him. "Are you?" I pondered.

"I wouldn't say I've ever been scared of them," he started. "But even as a boy they'd given off this feeling of foreboding."

"Did you ever tell your parents about it? This bad vibe?" I asked.

He just shook his head and let out a chuckle. "No. They are trusted members of the Royal Court, Flora. They are only a class below my family and I. And besides, they are given all the choices which may not be high ranked enough for a King or Queen to worry themselves with."

"But surely you must have told your Dad?" I urged. "If they bothered you so much."

"My dad wouldn't want to be interrupted with something so feeble an unimportant. He has ruling to deal with, not his son's silly feeling of uneasiness."

"It hardly seems fair that you had to keep it to yourself. How about your mum? Did you speak with her?"

Louis looked me in the eye and shook his head once again. "No. When I'm with my mother, she's always talking to me about my work, and as a child, I'd just forget."

"Ah," I muttered before I stood from my seat and started to rummage through the cupboard. "Are you hungry?"

"A little," He said. "Can we have-"

"No pancakes," I interrupted and he just scoffed and slumped in his seat like a disobedient child. "Why not?"

"Because you'll get fat," I said simply. "And besides, I'm sick of making meals for one. Eat something like pizza with me? Not that it will stop you getting fat, but c'mon. Have pizza with me, yeah?"

"That awful thing?" he asked in disgust. "If I must."

I gave him no choice. "You must."

He huffed and mumbled an unconvincing, "Yay," under his breath before I pulled out everything I would need for the pizza. Remembering that Jason would no doubt be joining us again, I made sure to set out three plates.

"Can I ask you something?" I wondered as I spun to face him again.

He seemed to sit straighter and he just nodded. A small smile tugged at his lips.

"Won't your parents know that something weird is going on while you're away?" 

Louis just frowned, and I didn't blame him. He'd been through a lot. "I'm not sure any longer," he managed. "At first, I thought all of my family and friends would assume me to be dead. But then I realised that the Starship hasn't returned to Junito since it's departure - my crew are still on board."

"But won't your parents want top security or something to guard their only son while he's away having a blast on some  mission?"

"Well, that's why the Councillors were there," he said.

"Oh." 

I glanced to the clock again, and it was precisely at that moment that there was a quiet knocking on the door. I stood and made my way through the kitchen, patting Louis carefully on the shoulder. He just looked up at me, confusion in his azure gaze. I just smiled softly, hoping that he would understand that everything was OK.

I knew Jason didn't mean any harm. He'd just been scared. Any normal person would have been scared after witnessing an alien in front of them. But as I made my way to the door, I had to wonder what the outcome would be after Louis' reveal. Would Jase be intrigued and want to help maybe? Or would he run for help? Hopefully, he'd choose the right thing, which was of course helping me get the Prince back home.

I double-checked it was Jason outside before I slowly opened the door to find him standing before me, eyes wide and a sheepish grin on his face.

"Um, hey," he said awkwardly.

I just raised a brow and stood aside to let him in. He did after a moment of hesitation and I just rolled my eyes before closing the door a little too forcefully, making him jump. He turned to face me, his eyes darting in the direction of the kitchen every few seconds.

I just crossed my arms and raised a brow. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, playing with his fingers as he spoke. "I was ... um, what happened earlier had been unexpected. I'm still a little in shock actually."

I just gave him a particularly hard slap on the back, meaning both, "It's OK," as well as, "You absolute knob."

"I think you upset him more than he upset you," I commented as I led him back into my home. This time he didn't bother to make himself at home - he followed me like a timid animal, his eyes wide and hands slightly raised as if he expected the worst and had to defend himself. No offence to him, but he wasn't built for fighting, not physically at least. 

"Pfft," he scoffed. "I'm pretty sure I'm the one more terrified and confused right now, Flo."

I turned to look at him over my shoulder, warning him before he turned into the kitchen, "Just keep calm."

He looked at me incredulously, the glasses sliding down his nose, making his eyes look bigger. He was still scared, and it looked as if there was nothing I could say or do to change that. But I knew Louis could.

We turned into the kitchen to find Louis sitting at the table, playing with his fingers. He looked up as we entered and sent a friendly smile towards Jason. I saw my friend flinch ever so slightly and I just sighed in defeat. It was going to be a long night.

"Shall we try introductions again?" I asked cheerfully as I bent down to extract the pizza from the oven. Out of the corner of my eye, I found Jason sitting down at the table opposite Louis, his expression unreadable. What was he thinking?

"Hi," Louis said slowly, almost scared he'd make Jason run again. However, everything seemed to be fine, and Jason returned the acknowledgement with a curt nod. I carefully placed the pizza down on a plate and searched around for the cutter, waiting for one of them to speak.

I heard Louis sigh loudly. Then he said, "You're being rude."

Jason just let out a small chuckle. "Well, I'm sor-ry," Jason snapped. "It's not everyday that you find out that extra-terrestrial beings are roaming the earth."

Louis just glared. "You're still being rude."

Jason just looked at him and I realised that was the perfect time cut in. Once I'd sliced the pizza, I dropped the two plates down before the boys, hoping that the junk food would, in some way, relieve the tension in the room. Junk food was usually the answer to many things.

"Why can't you just both talk like normal human beings?" I asked with sigh. Louis just looked at me with a frown and I suddenly felt a little awkward. He wasn't a human being. "Oh, sorry. Can't you both talk like normal people?"

This time, Jason looked at me, as if he disapproved of me classing Loudrix as a 'normal' person. I just threw my hands up and sighed in exasperation.

"Both of you talk nicely," I huffed. "There."

I sat down between them, looking back and forth. A silence fell, not an awkward one but more of a clueless one. Neither of them knew what to say to one another. 

"OK," Jason finally said. His eyes were fixed on Louis. "I guess I'd like to know ... well, everything."

The alien shrugged. "Define everything."

"Er..." Jason mumbled. "About you. Why you're here? What you want? Where are you from? All of the basics."

"Oh, so pretty much what you all wanted to know?" Louis asked with a glance at me. I nodded and he cleared his throat. "I think this shall be easier if you ask me specific questions to begin with. Then, I can answer each inquiry without either of us getting lost."

Jason nodded. "Alright," he began. With a deep sigh he asked his first question. "Where are you from?"

AS THE DAY CONTINUED AND the sky began to darken, Jason had learned everything there was to know; about Louis, about the Councillors, about how I had met him and what our mission was. When I'd mentioned the part about helping him return home, Jase looked at me like I was mad.

"Flora, did you not see those aliens up by the lake?" he asked. "They have these sparkling spear things."

"Striking blades," Louis corrected.

"Yeah, those," Jason said. "Those guys seem dangerous as hell, and you've just went ahead and agreed to help Loudrix get home? How the hell are you going to achieve that without getting yourself killed?"

I just shrugged and said, "I don't know. Neither of us do. But I have to help him, Jason. Louis, he's ... he's my friend."

Suddenly, the alien's gaze was on my face, shock evident in his eyes. Perhaps my calling him a friend had come as a surprise, even though it was pretty clear. Of course he was a friend, and friends helped each other. In this case, he was helping me explore the universe and I was helping him return home. It all seemed fair, and at the moment - impossible.

"Well, that's all very touching and such but I'm afraid that it seems too difficult a task," Jason said. "You're gonna get yourself killed, and most likely the alien too."

"The alien has a name," Louis scoffed from where he sat, slouched on the couch, picking at his nails. "Thank you very much."

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Jason said. "But seriously, Flora. You're gonna get yourself into more trouble than you're already in. God, if anyone were to find out you've got an alien in your house, you'd most likely be a target of inquiries and investigations. They'd want to know everything."

"I know, Jase. but like I said, I'm going to help him get home and put things right, no matter what happens. I have to."

"Have to or want to?" he pondered.

That stumped me. Truthfully, it was a bit of both - I had to because it was the right thing to do, the human thing to do, but I also wanted to because, like I'd already told him, Louis and I were friends and I was itching to visit his home planet.

"Both," I said.

"She's a good person," Louis cut in. I turned to look at him, astonished he'd said something so kind about me. He'd never really said something like that before and I found myself smiling at him. "She's good, selfless and determined. There's really no point in arguing with her."

"Don't act like you know her better than I do, mate," Jason said. "We're best friends, and I've known her for a hell of a lot longer than you. But I have to admit that you're right - she's stubborn too, which means she'll not change her mind."

"Exactly," I said. "So I'm not gonna listen to you if you try and talk me out of it."

Jason just raised a brow and stood from where he sat. Almost reluctantly, he looked towards Louis and asked, "I don't suppose you could use another helper?"

Louis frowned and looked to me before he opened his mouth to speak, but there was a problem; he seemed speechless.

"Um," he muttered, blinking a couple of times, "are you asking if you can help me get home?"

I was intrigued. Jason was volunteering to help? I knew he would be interested in Louis, but not quite as interested as this. I looked towards my friend, sensing the desperation emanating from him - he was very much like myself, holding back a longing for adventure.

"Yes." Jason nodded. "I am."

"Wow," Louis said, astonished. "I wasn't expecting that."

"Honestly?" Jason chuckled. "Neither was I."

"Me neither," I cut in. "But Louis - what do you think? I know you two got off on the wrong foot but Jason is my friend, and I trust him with my life. Will you trust him with yours too?"

Louis looked to Jason curiously, almost as if he were inspecting him for anything that could have been disadvantage if he accepted. Truthfully, I knew Jason would be a big help - he was smart, cautious and dedicated; he would put one-hundred percent into helping if Louis wanted it.

Louis sighed. "If I allow your assistance, I need to know that you can keep everything discussed a secret. Can you do that?"

"Yes," Jason said. "Ask Flora, I'm brilliant at keeping secrets."

I just nodded. "He is. He's also smart, Lou. I know he can help, and quite frankly - we're going to need all the help that we can get."

Louis stood from his seat, his eyes darting back and forth between Jason and I. Offering a small smile, I just nodded once again before he turned back to Jase and stuck his hand out.

"I'll accept your aid," he said. "Thank you."

Jason shook Louis' hand and smiled at him. "Thank you, Louis."

Then Louis laughed loudly and pulled his hand back and said, "I'll accept it, but only if you address me as Your Majesty."

Jason's face was a picture of annoyance, exasperation and disbelief. 

"I'm taking the píss," Louis laughed loudly, and I just joined in with the laughter before casting my gaze to the newest member of our group - Jason. He just returned the smile and turned back to Louis to ask what the first action was going to be.

Thank you for reading! x
Space joke: You can tell Saturn has been married more than once. Look at all those rings!
Cazza