Big Bend (g/t)

Invitation

Easton

I was set to work alongside Dave at the visitor center that afternoon, a set up which I had begun to find myself dreading slightly. It wasn't that I didn't like Dave - I thought my coworker seemed generally both nice and passionate about his job, and I'd found myself wishing on more than one occasion that I'd get the chance to get to know him better.

It was more the small - no pun intended - issue of Dave being terrified of me. The human tried his best to hide it while we were working together. That didn't stop me from noticing the way he tensed up anytime I so much as shifted my weight, nor the wary glances from him anytime he thought I wasn't looking.

I had been trying my best to put the much smaller man at ease, but so far, I'd had little success. I felt my stomach sink a little every time I saw Dave jump, knowing I was the cause of his fear. I might have grown more accustomed to fear being a common response to my presence, but I certainly didn't like it.

"You okay?" John's voice pulled me from my thoughts, and I looked down at the tiny government agent. I nodded.

"Yeah. Just thinking," I said.

"About a certain coworker?" John guessed. Easton blinked in surprise.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

"Well, you're set to work with him in...about thirty minutes, and I've heard there might be...some issues between you two."

"I wouldn't say issues," I began, trailing off. "Anyways, I can't believe it's almost noon already."

John seemed to go along with the subject change, much to my relief. I didn't really feel like trying to untangle my mess of thoughts about the situation with Dave outloud - I hadn't even succeeded in doing so in my head.

"Time flies," John said with a shrug. It seemed that proved true, as before I knew it, I was sitting outside the visitor center. As usual, I made sure to sit down far enough away from the building itself that I couldn't accidentally bump into it. Speaking of terrifying things, how incredibly fragile everything seemed on Earth had yet to stop freaking me out. I wasn't sure if it ever would, or if I even wanted it to, given that the anxiety I felt about damaging anything seemed to help in staying vigilant.

The multi story building behind me, for instance, was a constant source of stress when it came to doing something as simple as even leaning back.

I had barely gotten settled when the first group of tourists hurried up to him. It was when I was talking to them about their trip that I saw Dave walk up. The smaller man gave me a stiff wave, and I responded with a less stiff, and hopefully friendly, nod. When the group walked away, I greeted Dave properly.

"How's it going?"

"Good," Dave said, expression neutral. "How have you been?"

"Good," I said. There was an unusual lack of visitors that afternoon, which left the silence between them hanging heavily.

"Have you gotten to explore the park much yet?" I asked finally, deciding that seemed like a safe enough topic.

"A little," Dave said. "Angie and I went on a hike the other day."

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"It was nice," Dave said.

"That's good," I said. The silence between us returned. This time, it was thankfully broken up by the appearance of a couple. Both seemed equally excited to meet me, a welcome change of pace. I risked a quick glance towards Dave as I turned my head to greet them, guilt gnawing at my stomach once more.

The couple, as it turned out, were a pair of influencers who had countless questions for me. Mostly about Aphiria, and some about myseld. I tried to answer them the best I could. Dave's small, tense form was never far from my mind the entire time. I silently wished there was something I could do to put my coworker at ease. I wondered if I should try to talk to him about it directly. Or if that would just make things worse - I definitely didn't want to make Dave even more uncomfortable.

As the evening rolled around, the trickle of visitors grew steadily slower. Angie showed up about thirty minutes before our shift ended, talking with both of us for a bit before mentioning their recent hike to Dave.

" I was going to go stargazing tonight, what do you think?" She asked.

I pretended to be staring off into the distance, feeling a familiar pang of wishing I was included. That wasn't an Earth specific problem - it was one I'd grown all too used to during my childhood, with both family and peers alike generally overlooking me.

"Sure, I'm down," Dave said. He paused. "Hey, Easton, do you want to join?"

I didn't reply for a moment, first considering whether or not I was hallucinating as I looked down at his two miniscule coworkers.

"Um, I don't want to intrude-" I started, still wondering if I'd heard Dave right.

"You wouldn't be," Dave said. It took everything I had to keep the shocked expression off my face. Dave was the absolute last person I had expected to invite me anywhere.

"Yeah, you should totally come!" Angie chimed in.

"I'll have to check with John," I said. The IMA Agent had ducked inside to use the restroom a few moments prior to Angie's arrival.

"If he says yes, though?" Angie pressed.

"Um, yeah. That sounds fun," I said, suddenly acutely aware of how awkward I sounded. I wasn't sure how I managed to talk to tourists all day, and yet was currently struggling to carry on a single conversation. It was then another visitor approached us, and Angie took that as her cue to leave.

"Cool. Well, I'm going to get dinner, so I'll see you guys later?" Angie asked.

"Sounds good," Dave said.

I spent the rest of the shift in borderline disbelief. A part of me hoped there'd be another lull in visitors so I could talk to Dave, while another part wasn't even sure what I'd say. As it turned out, we stayed fairly busy until the shift ended, and afterwards, Dave headed off while John asked me how things had gone.

"Good," I said slowly. I paused. "Angie and Dave asked if I wanted to go stargazing with them. I told them I'd have to ask you."

"I think that'd be fine. You'll follow all the normal rules, of course?" John said.

I nodded. "Of course."

"Then, it's fine with me. Could be good to get to know them better," John said with a smile.