Midnight Disaster ~FINALIST Watty Awards 2012~

Chapter 12 (Revised 4/14/2019)

I held the clothes out to Miles, and he tipped his head to the side to study them as he rose from the chair. Uncertainly, he ran his fingers along the seam, feeling the fabric. It was as if he never saw clothes like these before, and most likely, he hadn't.

"Can you do me a favor?" I asked him slowly.

He pulled his hand back like I had slapped him.

"I need you to put these on," I said gesturing to the clothes.

He tilted his head to the side as he looked back at me, then his gaze flicked between the shirt and the pants, and he scrunched up his face. It was hard to tell what he thought, but suddenly he reached out and grasped the clothes, looking between them and the outfit Cameron wore. Then, he slipped off the thing he had worn, tossing it by my feet before he pulled Daniel's clothes into place. He adjusted them so that they moved into the right places, but when he finished, he was tense. It was easy to see how uncomfortable he was in the clothes, and I wondered how long it would take for him to adjust.

"This...right?" he asked me, frowning down at his feet.

I nodded. "It's perfect."

I bent down to pick up his clothes, the fabric heavy and different from anything on Earth. It was made of intricate fibers woven into a thickness that convinced me his planet was much colder than Earth. Miles' eyes were on the cloth, as if he was afraid of being away from it, and I suddenly didn't want to take it away from him. After all, it was the only thing he had to remind him of his home.

"What do you think?" I asked Cameron.

"He looks human enough I guess," he replied with a shrug.

I frowned as I stared at his golden hair that hung around his face like a veil. I ducked into his path so that he was forced to look at me. "Is something wrong?" I asked him quietly so that Miles couldn't hear.

Cameron didn't reply. Instead, he backed away until his back hit the stove. I rolled my eyes, not understanding his standoffishness now. Wasn't this what he had been excited about less than twelve hours before? Shuffling sounds filled the room as Miles moved closer to me, eyes on Cameron as if even he was confused by his behavior.

"Come on," I said to the alien, grasping his hand to lead him toward Daniel's room. "I want to show you something."

Miles said nothing as I pulled him into the room. Instead, he wandered around, poking at the blanket on the bed and sniffing around at the clothes in the closet. I turned at the sound of movement and caught a glimpse of Cameron in the doorframe, but he said nothing so I turned my attention back to Miles.

"This will be your room," I said slowly as I gestured to the room that surrounded us and then pointed at Miles. "You can stay here as long as you'd like."

"For...me?" he asked.

I nodded. "You can use anything in here. The closets, the bed, the clothes, they're all yours."

He glanced around the room with wonder shining in his eyes, and it looked like he was actually genuinely interested. "I can use anything?" he asked.

I flinched backward at how easily the words slipped from his lips, how smooth his voice had been. This could be good, I told myself. If he was able to pick up our language fast enough, he would be able to blend in much better.

"Make yourself at home. And if you want or need anything, just ask me or Cameron, and we'll get it for you."

"Home," Miles echoed me.

I nodded. "Right."

He nodded back then stepped toward me, staring at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked him.