Richard Weston's POV

Carefully, I removed her hand from my knee and jumped down off the butcher's block. "You should smile more often. You have a beautiful smile," I remarked as I looked down at her. Aria was just a normal-sized woman compared to my height. The top of her head hitting my chin.

She was incredibly lovely and naked like this. It was...odd. Straightening my throat, I moved around her toward the sink. "While I love seeing a naked woman as much as the next man, would you mind putting some clothes on? It is making things a bit uncomfortable." Damn, my fucking morals just had to kick into gear now!

Aria's blue eyes began to shine brightly as she smiled warmly at me, the corners of her eyes crinkling a bit. As comprehension hit her, I could feel the room starting to feel heavy. If anything, she smiled even brighter as she saw my eyes looking at her with confusion. Without warning, her physical body disappeared, and she became what looked like a dark mist that shot upward toward the ceiling. More curious than afraid, my eyes grew wide as I watched her disappear through the second story of the house. Shocked, I slowly realized that Aria wasn't human.

Walking around naked, not having a name, I figured she was just an amnesia patient or something, but not this! Feeling unsure about what to do, I wrapped my fist around the trash bag with my day's catch of bass fish and lifted it from the sink. As I turned back around, she was right there in the doorway, wearing a bright red gown with spaghetti straps. I felt my body quicken at the sight of her. As I set the trash bag back down, She approached me with the clicking of high heels. Not quite sure how to handle this, I looked at Aria and thought of her as being like any other woman, though she wasn't. "Wow. Now that's a beautiful gown. You look amazing, Aria. You have no regular clothes for daytime hours?"

With her arms at her sides, she tilted her head as she stops in front of me. Her body was close enough I could feel her warmth. Disregarding my question entirely, she placed a hand in the center of my chest. "There is little fear coming from you, Richard. Why is that?" Her expression had changed to one of confusion and surprise.

Uneasiness flooded me now, almost afraid to make the wrong move, and yet, not. "I have been desensitized to things that are different thanks to movies and media. Plus, being a war veteran, I have seen almost too much to be frightened by anything anymore. Mostly just curious. So coming across someone like you, while shocking, doesn't necessarily make me fear you. I am more curious about what you are. Was that dark mist the real you?" Slowly I reached out and placed my hand over hers on my chest. It felt warm and soft as my fingers slid across the back of her hand. Aria felt real.
________________________

Aria's POV

Richard was an interesting subject for a human, with Tina's memories upfront with my own, it was a bit strange to feel this body responding to his. As much as I didn't like wearing the dress. He was right. Clothing would better serve during this first contact with a human.

When I revealed myself to him, I had figured he would take off running as most species have done in the past. When I showed up in the doorway fully clothed, I did not expect Richard to be there still. Though I could see by the thrash bag in his hand, he had been about ready to leave. Curiously enough, he stayed. There was little to no change in his breathing and heartbeat, letting me know he had little fear. Now, this was fascinating!

Placing my hand on his chest, I thought it would make a difference in his heartbeat, and it did. But it was not fear. So, his body was responding to this one. Interesting... I felt it more when his large hand covered mine too. These were very odd sensations that I was experiencing. Quite enjoyable? I think that's the right word. It seems human beings are far more complex than I'd initially thought. Looking up into Richard's eyes, I watched as his pupils dilated. "Yes. I call it 'shadow mist' since I was born in the shadowed side of a black hole, right before it inverted." He looked at me, stunned. Maybe I said too much, too soon?

His hand froze in place over mine as his mind absorbed the information I just gave him. Closing his mouth, his brow furrowed. "Alright, can you tell me how you are in this human form then?" Surprisingly, he held onto my hand, grasping it gently.

"I am made of what you call 'dark matter', also called 'raw matter', which allows me to shift my molecules into any form I want. This one I developed an imprint of her DNA to get the part of the human genome which will allow for quick 'changes' later on, should the need arise."

Still holding onto my hand, Richard leaned back against the butcher's block. His expression wavered briefly as his eyes met mine. "But what are you? Your species." My hand pulled away from his and dropped to my side.

When I looked into his face, I saw compassion which was so very out of place. " There is no name for what I am. To my knowledge, I am the only one of my kind." His arms moved as if he was going to try and hold me, but he hesitated and folded his arms across his chest.

"Can you tell me why you are here?" He asked quietly as he crossed his ankles.

Using the slit to the hip in this gown to my advantage, I straddled his legs and placed my hands down on either side of him. "I am here to 'observe,' my way. Not your human way. Though it is because of watching humans evolve that I am here in the first place." I looked at him steadily, his eyes dilating as confusion set in.

"First of all, Aria, please move back; you're in my personal space. Second, what do you mean 'your way'?" Hmm... I guess Richard had issues with such movements. No one in Tina's past did. Backing away, he straightened up but kept his arms crossed over his chest.

Taking a few steps back, in the blink of an eye, I had changed back to my real self spreading out my dark misty molecules wide. Capturing Richard, I lifted him from the ground using the gravity from my core and enveloped his body for stability. Moving fast, I took him out the back service door and around the mansion toward the front. Within my molecular field, Richard struggled a bit at first. Though later, he came to realize I was only doing this so he could have his question answered.

Speeding along through the trees, we then hit the open fields. After a few miles, I stopped outside of a small town. Removing my molecules from him, as he coughed and sputtered, I began to take on the form of Tina one more. His breathing was fast, and his heartbeat was erratic. "You'll be fine, Richard. It was just for fast transport. Human legs don't move as quickly." I gazed off at the main street filled with classicly built buildings with businesses in them, a coffee shop, bank, schoolyard, and motel. All so sweet and quaint.

Grabbing me by the shoulders, Richard held back his anger. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" Dropping his hands from me immediately, he ran a hand through his wavy brown hair. "Why are we even here anyway?"

"Touch me in anger again, and you will lose those arms, are we clear?" My lowered voice sounded flat and cold as I meant it to be. Gulping, he nodded, so I continued, "You see that small town. You like it, right?"

He looked confused but agreed. "As opposed to there being nothing, yeah."

Nodding, I allowed the gravity source in me to grow and expand. "You might want to lay down, Richard." He dropped down quickly as I expanded the black hole in my chest, its power focused in on the small town. Businesses rattled, Timber creaked under the strain of the pull, and glass windows shattered. Car alarms went off and went silent as they were crushed by a destructive force. The citizens began to scream and run, scattering. That's when I blew up the whole town all at once, up into molecules floating on the slight wind, no need for useless suffering. The town was gone. Obliterated. All that was left was some grass from front lawns and the brown rectangular plots where homes and businesses once stood. A population of fewer than 8,000 people, all gone in less than two minutes.

I struggled with the gravity as I pulled it back inside of me. It was almost like a drug sometimes. You want to use it more and more. Then you do, and you are left all alone... Richard finally sat up but did so slowly, now looking at me differently. I can't see why...

Looking at me, he asked quietly, "This is your way' of observing? My God, Aria, what have you done?!" Getting up, he started walking away until I grabbed his arm, turning him toward me with a tear in his eye he growled, "Get away from me." His eyes looked me up and down with disgust.

"The human concept is that God kills without discriminating. So why does that suddenly make me so bad? Or does that make you a hypocrite for judging a creature you know next to nothing about but were supposedly trying to learn of through all your questions?" Saying nothing, he started to walk in the direction of the mansion. Soon, I walked by his side in silence. Both of us lost in thought.