#helltalia-inc

    He stumbles over it, actually. It’s so small, he doesn’t notice its existence until he’s on the ground from tripping over it. He stands back up, brushing himself off. He kneels next to the object he tripped over, and furrows his brows. He’s not certain, but it appears to be emitting a faint light. He grabs a stick and pokes at the sphere, but nothing happens besides it rolling away. He glances up at the sky, and determines this is roughly the area he watched it go down. So this tiny sphere must be what he’s looking for. Right? He flips over his hand and positions it closer to the object, testing for heat. Nothing. Against his better judgment, he slips it into the palm of his hand, wrapping his fingers around it tightly. It’s so smooth it’s unnerving. He shakes his head, and makes his way back home.

    Once inside, he changes his clothes, including his socks, then sets the sphere on the counter. He stares unblinking at it for at least a minute, but it only shines back at him. What is the source of that eerie blue glow? Does it have batteries? He can’t seem to make out a seam. It’s definitely man-made though. Nothing is naturally that perfectly spherical. After an hour of trying to figure it out, he shakes his head at himself. He’s had a long day. He’s probably hallucinating! This thing doesn’t actually exist, and he’s been watching his blank counter space for an hour. Still, he grabs the object and takes it to his room. He lays it on his nightstand before curling up under the blankets. Maybe this will all make sense in the morning. It’s late. Or maybe the sphere won’t be there in the morning, and he’ll have to go back to his therapist. He doesn’t have enough energy to focus on any of that right now though. He closes his eyes, and lets sleep overtake him.

~

    When Berwald rolls over and comes face-to-brighter-sphere with the object in the morning, he nearly falls out of bed. He shoves the covers off of himself, and frantically reaches out for his glasses. Once they’re securely on his face, he starts another staring contest with the sphere. It’s changed. For one, it’s slightly larger now. For two, it’s pulsating, which concerns him to no end. For three, it seems to be slightly changing colour? Light blue to medium blue to deep blue to medium blue to light blue to—he shakes his head hard. He should just get rid of this thing before it combusts. He scoops it up, and it beeps at his touch. Of course, this causes him to drop it, and it beeps angrily at him.

    There’s an angry sphere on his bedroom floor. Should he just move? That might be the best thing to do. Still, he can’t help but look at it again. He wonders if maybe dropping it wasn’t the best idea, and picks it up. It beeps once more, then falls silent. Okay. He has a weird, glowing sphere that sort of acts like a baby in his hand. What the hell is he supposed to do with it!?

    Before he can figure that out, it turns green and a… keyboard…(?) appears in the air. No, that’s not quite right. It’s a hologram. But the keys aren’t anything he recognizes. He shakes his head in confusion at the thing. What’s he supposed to do with that? A voice, he thinks, speaks to him through it. He has no idea what is being said. He understands the sigh though! He shouldn’t be as excited about that as he is. Another beep, then the same voice, but in English this time. “Stupid piece of-” They take a deep breath. “No. This is my fault. Don’t blame the technology. Hello? Is anyone there? Can you kindly answer?” Berwald taps one of the keys. “Oh! Good! Someone’s there! Can you hear me?” Again, he taps. “Alllllllright. Can you understand me?” Another tap. “Listen! If you don’t stop that, I’m going to arm this thing!” He doesn’t tap this time. He doesn’t want to risk that. “So you can understand me. Why didn’t you just say so?”

    Normally, this is where Berwald would write that he’s mute and it’s rude to ask someone why they won’t talk, especially in a situation like this, but he doesn’t know if this thing has a receiving camera or not. So, he grabs his phone, navigates to the text-to-speech app he installed for similar encounters, and types in I don’t speak. When it says those words, there’s a soft noise of surprise from the… voice.

    “Oh! Sorry. How rude of me. Everyone here speaks, so I just assumed… Sorry. Really. You’re on Earth, right? What an interesting planet!” Berwald can’t decide if he’s curious or angry. Interesting planet? Indirectly, the voice told him he’s “interesting” for not speaking. He has a feeling that word means something closer to “I’d like to observe” for them. Still, he’ll give them a chance. What do you want? “Oh! Right! That’s easy! I’d like my drone back. Please. You humans say that when you want something, right? Please?” It’s said to be polite. “Ah! Whatever that means. Well? Can I have it back? I was aiming for Mercury.” Berwald’s brows shoot up. “What? Is that not possible?”

    Apparently, this thing does have a receiving camera. Which makes him wonder… Did you watch me sleep? “That’s not an answer to my question.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “I can see I’m not getting an answer until you know. Yes. I watched you sleep. Humans are such interesting creatures! Why’d you take off your face glass thingies to sleep though? Seems like you need them to see. Why not wear them while you sleep, so you can wake up seeing?” The voice obviously knows very little about humans. They break. And no, it’s not possible to give your drone back. I don’t know how to use this thing. The invisible speakers crackle at the heavy sigh the… alien(?) does. “That sucks. I’ll have to come retrieve it myself. Please wait where you are! I’ll be there soon!” And it goes back to being a sphere. One that’s no longer glowing, in fact.

    What, exactly, just happened? He flips the object over and over and over in his hands, trying to find a seam again. Nothing. But obviously there’s one somewhere. A speaker, a camera, a hologram maker, a GPS, and who knows what else is stored in this thing. He should take it to the government. He should throw it back into the forest. Whatever he does, he shouldn’t leave it in his house until the alien comes to retrieve it. But that’s exactly what he does. It’s probably because he’s in shock. He places it back on his nightstand, then continues the day like nothing ever happened. Cook, clean, knit, cook, clean, crochet, cook, cle-

    “HETHAM.” Well that’s not part of his after-dinner cleaning. He dries off his hands and walks out the side door, closest to where he heard the sound. It’s night again; about twenty four hours after first seeing the sphere in the sky, to be exact. There’s a man dangling from his gutter system. He knows immediately this is the alien he spoke to earlier. Berwald wasn’t expecting him to be so attractive. Even upside down, he’s enchanting. His hair is white as snow, his skin only a few shades tanner, and his eyes a shocking ruby red. His facial and body features are decently sculpted as well. He shouldn’t be looking at his guest that way! He should be helping him down! Them? He’s not sure what pronouns an alien that looks like a human man goes by. Anyway, not important! He rushes to aid them, trying to internalize the pain at seeing his expensive gutter system ruined. Once they’re on the ground, upright, they give him the biggest grin he’s ever seen. It makes his cheeks hurt. “Thanks! I think that’s what you use here? I’m very new to Earth customs! Where’s my drone?” Berwald glances at the sky discreetly, looking for some sort of transportation device. “Oh, you won’t see anything. I teleported here! I was meant to appear next to my drone, but I guess I miscalculated.” Berwald scrunches up his nose in distaste. He’s thankful for the miscalculation. Having an alien appear in his room would be too much for him to handle.

    “Hey, why don’t you talk, anyway? I thought only humans that couldn’t hear didn’t speak.” He rubs at his temples; he already has a headache. This is why he lives alone! People are loud. Animals are loud. He’s sensitive to that. His therapist told him he has Hearing Sensory Overload, but it feels like more than that. “Why aren’t you responding? Do you not have that cool speak thingie? Here, I’ll help!” They swipe something from their pocket, and hold it up to Berwald’s forehead.

    “How annoying.” “They’re so loud, it hurts.” “I’m mute. That means I don’t talk, hearing or not.” “God, they’re attractive!” “Damned hot.” His internal voice echoes out all at once. “Enough!” He thinks, hearing it at the same time. “I don’t want your mind-to-speech thing invading my thoughts anymore. Turn it off.” The alien sticks their bottom lip out in a pout, but turns the device off without complaint. Thank you he mouths, signing it at the same time. The alien glances down at his watch, then nods. Probably a universal translator of some sort.

    “You’re welcome! I didn’t know humans could think so many things at once! I guess it makes sense. You’re about as smart as my kind. Though you haven’t even started on a lot of the technology we’ve perfected.” They shrug then walk toward the door Berwald came out, letting themself in. The Swede follows after, deciding he’s going to un-learn English so something like this doesn’t ever happen again.

    “Oh… You live… Modestly.” They grimace at the woodstove in his kitchen. This causes Berwald to bristle. That’s his pride and joy! It’s been in his family for generations! He brought it back from the dead! “Hopefully this is just a little vintage corner!” It is, in fact, not. The rest of his house is similar to his kitchen; outdated but solid. “Oh… Well, at least you’re bound to have a cat or a dog! Most humans do! Come here, kitty kitty kitty! Or puppy! Come here!” Berwald shakes his head slowly at them. “No?” Their shoulders slump. “What a lonely life you must lead.” That makes his stomach twist uncomfortably. He’s not alone! He has his family. Both chosen and blood.

    “Hey. You’re better than you think. You’re worth more than you think. I understand why I lost control of my drone here now. Sometimes, our technology messes up when there’s a lot of sorrow around.” They step toward him with an extended hand, but don’t touch him. “You don’t have to be miserable just because you live in an overwhelming world.” Their words are so earnest, it makes his heart ache. No one’s ever noticed that before. No one’s ever mentioned his punishing himself for being so easily overwhelmed. But this… this stranger immediately knowing? It causes tears to come to his eyes. He wipes at them quickly, but it’s too late. “You don’t have to hide them from me. How long have you been hurting?” That’s a question he doesn’t know the answer to. How long has he been hurting?

~

    Months later, Berwald returns home to his partner Gilbert with a diagnosis for Autism Spectrum Disorder. It’s thanks to them that he was even considered for it. After their customary welcome home hug and a bit of quiet excitement at finally knowing, Berwald settles next to the large fish tank they recently bought together to knit. As he watches the fish chase each other, he’s filled with a warmth he wouldn’t have recognized before Gilbert crashed into his life; quite literally, might he add. It seems both like yesterday and years ago that they teleported into his gutter system and broken the wall he had so carefully constructed over years within a matter of minutes. But it was the first day of many he felt actually seen, instead of glanced over. And Gilbert was always the source of that feeling.

    After he had broken down that day, Gilbert had insisted they stay to help him. Neither of them had expected to fall in love, but they did. Gilbert visits home commonly, but the good thing about having a partner that can teleport anywhere in the universe in an instant is that Berwald never has to go to bed alone. And he always has physical support when he needs it, even if Gilbert is a galaxy away. That’s thanks to the drone that started all of this. He still doesn’t understand it, but at least he can call for Gilbert whenever. He might abuse that power a little too much. He just can’t help it! Gilbert makes him so happy.