By the time you woke up, you figured it had all been a weird dream. It was too absurd not to be.

So you sat up, swung your feet off the bed and stretched. Checking the clock, you found that you slept in past 10 am, which was late.. You were supposed to be at work.

Shit.

Maybe you could call in sick.. You pulled on a pair of socks, grabbed a robe, and went to leave your room, only to find that you had locked the door..

But door shouldn't be locked if what happened was a dream.

You unlocked the door and crept out into the livingroom, your stomach dropping when you found Krugarr sitting on the couch, holding one of your books and flipping through the pages. You didn't think he was actually reading it, more just fascinated with the object, but at least he was being gentle with the pages.

He noticed you standing in the hall and greeted you with a nod.

You nodded back partially out of shock that he was real, and turned into the kitchen, arriving just in time to see the woman from last night storming out and back to the guest room. Stakar sat down at the kitchen table, seemingly unbothered and used to this.

He caught sight of you and nodded. "Morning."

"Morning.." you answered back, "Uh.. Is she okay? Something wrong?" you asked, partially worried that maybe it was something about the room or house. Maybe something you could fix.

He shook his head. "No, no, she's always like that. Part of what drew me in actually." He smiled.

"You're together then?" You asked, pouring a cup of coffee. It was cold now, since you made it at 4 am that morning and it sat for six hours, but you didn't mind heating it back up.

"Married for a couple hundred years and still going strong." He nodded.

"Hundred? I'm sorry, I thought you two were human," you turned and looked at him, leaning against the counter, "Are you not?"

"Aleta is Arcturan. I'm sort of humanish, but not really. I was raised Arcturan though."

"That's.. so unbelievably vague.." you muttered. You looked up at him and then out the window toward the barn, then back to him. "Are you hungry? I can make breakfast. A little late in the morning, but you've got to be hungry after a space battle and crashing your ships."

Stakar's brow furrowed, his lips almost tugging into a frown. "Who told you about that?"

Shit, were you not supposed to know about that? Would you get in trouble? Surely not, but.. Would Kraglin get in trouble for telling you? Was that not your business?

"Uh, Kraglin did.. I think he's one of.. what was his name.. Yon- He's one of Yondu's men.. Is that okay, if I know about that?" you asked, slightly worried.

He shook his head and sat back in the kitchen chair, the wood creaking under him. "It's fine, I was just confused how you knew that.. Yeah, I could go for something, I haven't had Terran food in ages. Do you mind making a little extra, for my wife?"

You nodded, thinking it was sweet he wanted to get her something as well. "Of course. How's eggs sound?" you asked, opening the fridge door and pulling a carton out. That was when you started to smell something fowl.

At first you sniffed the carton in your hand, but that wasn't it. You sniffed the air, nose scrunched, and it lead you to the door that lead outside.

You slid open the glass door, only to be startled by a man stumbling back, equally as startled, muttering out apology after apology as if he had been caught doing something.

Stunned, you stepped out onto the back porch, not even setting the eggs down first.

This man was human-like with dreads, and some sort of facial tattoo or marking around his right eye.

You sniffed the air again and finally recognized the scent. Piss.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, the fellas told me to do it away from the barn, I should have just gone to the field, I don't know what I was thinking-" he rambled out, clearly embarrassed at having been caught.. relieving himself on your back deck.

You were starting to catch secondhand embarrassment yourself, so you held up a hand to stop him. "It's fine- .. Uh.."

"Tullk.."

"Tullk.. It's fine. Just- .. Either walk yourself into the woods behind the property, or you can come inside and use the restroom.. I know you're staying in the barn, but I won't treat you like an animal." you joked a little, trying to lighten the mood a little.

God this was fucking awkward.

"You and the other guys want some breakfast?" You offered, changing the subject.

By the way his eyes lit up at the mention of food, you assumed it had been a while since he, or any of them, had eaten. He nodded, and you sent him back to the barn to let the others know.

Then you realized you'd actually have to somehow cook for forty men, and let out a long, irritated sigh.

You barely liked cooking for just yourself.

You headed inside and put the eggs back in the fridge. "Stakar, I'm heading into town, I have to buy more food, please don't let anyone pee on my back porch." you called as you passed through the kitchen and down the hall, slightly amused by his confused and stressed out 'What?'

You got dressed quickly and grabbed the keys, ready to head out before you stopped and realized you didn't know what aliens could or couldn't eat. With a sigh, you turned and jogged out to the barn, where you walked in on some sort of fight going on.

A bald man with a knife was yelling, trying to get at another man with a prosthetic eye who was trying to reach for some sort of gun on his hip. Both men were roughly pulled apart by an extremely large man in a yellow suit, who stopped the fight pretty quickly with a loud booming voice that made even you feel like you were in trouble despite not having done anything.

"ENOUGH! Retch, go take a walk! Give me the knife. Vorker, stay here. Yondu! Get your men under control, there is no reason why I should be the peace keeper down here when you are their captain!"

The bald man, Retch you assume, pushed past you, muttering under his breath. Vorker grumbled and made his way toward the back of the barn where one of the heaters were and sat down.

Movement from the loft caught your attention, as you saw Yondu lean over the railing, pissed.

"Don't you tell me how to lead my men! They woulda been fine if you just let them sort it out themselves. If one of 'em dies, that's on them."

Sensing another argument would break out, you cleared your throat loudly, getting everyone's attention. Kraglin noticeably stood a little straighter, as if embarrassed by the way the crew was behaving.

"I'm heading into town to get food," you started, acting like nothing had happened, "However, I'm not sure what you all can or can't consume. If someone would like to come with me and help me out, that would be appreciated.. Uh.. Preferably someone who won't shoplift or get me in trouble with the store-" a couple men sat back down, "...Or the government, if someone reports seeing aliens." A few more men sat back down.

"I'll go, I can pass as Terran, and I know the crew pretty well." Kraglin said, stepping up. He looked to Yondu, as if silently asking if things would be okay while he was gone, and the captain just nodded back.

"Alright, come with me, my car's out front." You looked past him as he approached and called out, "Please don't kill each other while you're here! I don't really care how you settle things, but I don't want to have to deal with cleaning up blood or getting rid of a body, thanks!"

You heard a few men chuckle and start giving Vorker a hard time as your turned and left with Kraglin, leading him toward the driveway.

You got in the driver's side and turned the car on before realizing Kraglin hadn't gotten in yet. Ducking your head a bit lower to see what he was doing, you saw him standing there, grabbing at the door handle a little before attempting to push it.

When he realized pushing it wouldn't work, he pulled, a little too hard, and startled a little when the door flew open. Flustered, he got in and pulled the door shut. "I've.. the doors-.. We don't have doors like that anywhere else.." He muttered.

Laughing a little, you started to pull out of the driveway, only to notice a dinging sound. You turned to Kraglin, who was looking around for the noise.

"The uh, seat belt. It's behind y- no on your right- above your shoulder there- hold on." You leaned over, grabbed his seat belt, and just clicked it in for him to save time. He cleared his throat and looked out the window self-consciously.

You sat back in your seat and started the journey to the store, turning the radio on. Some 70s song came on, and you didn't miss the way he started to subtly bop his head, apparently knowing the words.

I'm hooked on a feeling..

I'm high on believing..

You wondered how he knew the song if he was from another planet.

-

Getting to the store was easy. Getting into the store was easy. Getting out of the store was what was difficult. At this point, your 'guests' would be eating lunch.

You and Kraglin had been walking around the store for nearly an hour gathering food -mostly meat- for the others, and he kept stopping to read every ingredient on the labels. A good thing, you were sure, but it was taking forever.

You looked down at the cart, filled with various meats, cartons of eggs, gallons of milk, vegetables, a new large pot to cook with, and multiple new sets of silverware and dishes since you knew you didn't have enough back at home.

You sighed. This was going to be expensive.

You noticed people giving Kraglin some odd looks, noticing his Ravager uniform, and pushed the cart in front of him in an attempt to sort of block him a little.

"I don't mean to be rude, but can you hurry just a little bit? You do pass as human, but people are staring. I think they think you're a cop of some kind or maybe a LARPer.." you whispered.

His face screwed in confusion. "The hell is a 'Larper..?'" he muttered, "And I would, but I'm trying to figure out if these are safe for some of the guys," he handed you a can, "They look like fruit, but they're in a can, and the label says it has acid in it."

You looked down at the can and tossed it in the cart. "It's pineapple, sometimes humans store fruit in cans to make it last longer or more convenient to prepare.. And uh.. well the acid is safe for humans to eat.. though I'm not sure about any other races.. I mean I read somewhere that the reason it tingles a little when you eat it is because technically the acid is eating you back in a way..? But it's safe for us, as weird as that sounds."

He tilted his head to think about it, then grabbed a couple more cans, putting them in the cart. "I mean if it's safe for Terrans, it's probably safe for the fellas. I don't say this to be rude or nothin', but Terrans typically are less.. durable than other people."

You didn't take offense to that, but man it was funny hearing him try to phrase it politely.. So you were a little mean about it.

"What do you mean by that?" You asked, biting back a smile.

His eyes widened and he backpedaled. "I-I didn't mean nothin' by it, I just meant.. Well.. Okay, Terrans aren't weak, I'm not sayin' that, I mean, I'm sure there are things that y'all are better than us at-" He rambled on.

He only stopped when he caught sight of your grin and sighed, realizing what you were doing.

"You're so funny." He muttered, sarcastically.

"I am." You laughed, starting to push the cart toward the self check-out before he got the chance to grab anything else. You were on a budget.

-

By the time you got home, it was around noon, so you figured you'd just make lunch instead. It was easier anyway, you'd just make sandwiches and hopefully get someone to help you.

You entered the house, carrying as many bags as you could, Kraglin coming in behind you doing the same.

A couple more Ravagers were inside now, and you could see many more were outside, either in the yard or sitting on the back porch. And luckily no one was fighting.

You locked eyes with Tullk as he came out from the hallway. "Hey, there's still some more bags out in the trunk of my car, do you mind getting them?" you asked.

He nodded and headed past you while you focused on just setting everything down and stocking. Freezer foods first, then fridge-

No room.

"I guess I'll have to use the freezer in the basement.." you said, mostly to yourself. You hated the basement. Not only was it dark and unfinished, but it was creepy. You knew logically it shouldn't be, since you're an adult, but you couldn't help it. You tried not to go down there unless you had to.

"What's this?" A deeper voice asked suddenly.

You turned around to find a man with pale, pinkish-purple, almost scaly skin, golden eyes, and a flat, multi-chambered nose. He looked like if a snake were a person. Brahl, you remembered.

You looked at the can in his hand. "Pineapple," you answered, "it's a type of fruit. It's sweet, but it can also taste sort of.. tingly, I guess? It's good, feel free to open it. Can-opener should he in the-" you stopped as he bit the can open, "... okay, yeah sure.."

You couldn't help but stare a little as he just reached in and grabbed a pineapple ring, putting the whole thing in his mouth. You shook your head and started to grab some of the bags of freezer food to take down to the basement, only to be startled out of it when you heard aggressive coughing.

You whipped around to find Brahl bent over the sink, spitting the pineapple out and frantically turning the sink on to run his tongue under the water.. Water that ran purple after it dripped from his mouth.

Oh god..

You dropped the bags and rushed over to him to see what the problem was, and sure enough, his tongue was bleeding, blistered, and splitting open.

Worried he was having some sort of allergic reaction, you told Kraglin to go find their medic if they had one, and he rushed outside. Turning your attention back to Brahl, you made him look at you.

"Can you breathe?? Is your throat closing up?" You asked.

He shook his head and just spit more blood into the sink. "Fuck.. Fuck, it juth burnth.." he said, though it came out slightly muffled due to the injury.

"Burns?" You questioned. Your eyes widened.. Fuck..

"Oh.. I think I know what happened.. Did you swallow any of the juice?" You asked. He shook his head. You sighed in relief. "Good.. Okay, so uh.. Pineapple is acidic-"

He whipped his head up and glared at you as if you had fed it to him on purpose. You held your hands up in defense. "But it's safe for humans! I didn't think it would do anything to you, I swear!"

He groaned and spit into the sink again, lowering his head under the focet to drink the water.

The back door slid open and Kraglin returned, followed by Yondu and the large man in the yellow suit. It only just now occurred to you how big he really was, as his head almost touched the ceiling, possibly nearing eight feet tall.

"It was the pineapple," you explained quickly, taking a step back to give them some space, "I underestimated how the acids might effect someone who isn't human.. We can eat them just fine, I didn't think it would hurt him."

Yondu nodded, now understanding this wasn't some allergic reaction or emergency. "He'll be fine." he said.

"What?" you started, "But he's-"

The tall man nodded as well. "It'll be painful, but your mouth will heal from that." He turned and eyed you now. "Please be more careful about foods that quite literally have acid in them. I understand Terrans can consume it safely, but many other races cannot, as I'm sure you are aware now."

You felt guilt pooling in your gut now, and looked back at Brahl, who thankfully had stopped spitting blood, but was now urgently downing a glass of water, having found the cups.

"I'm sorry." you said.

"Nah, this falls on me, Cap'in," Kraglin said, stepping a bit closer, "I told them it would probably be fine. I thought if Terrans could eat it then we could too, since.. well since Terrans ain't usually too durable, as we tend to see with Pete."

Yondu looked at his first mate and nodded, acknowledging him but not really saying much on the matter. He looked at you, then back to Brahl before turning around to leave the house. "He ain't dead. If he can still fight and work, he'll be fine. Right, Brahl?" he asked, giving the man a look.

Brahl nodded. "Ye.. Yethir." he said, shooting Tullk a glare, who had snorted upon hearing the lisp.

Tullk had walked in on the scene and not thought too much on it. It seemed that like Yondu, as long as the man wasn't dead, he assumed he was fine.

You opened the freezer, grabbed an ice cube, and handed it to Brahl. "Suck on this, it'll help the pain and swelling."

He took it and popped it into his mouth with a relived groan and you muttered out another apology, feeling bad that someone had gotten hurt due to your ignorance.

With that taken care of, you turned to Kraglin and Tullk. "Can you two help me make sandwiches, we've gotta feed like, what, forty people?"

-

The sandwiches took about half an hour to make, and at least four loaves of bread, but at least everyone was fed.

And you had to admit, watching a bunch of alien pirates eat was fascinating.

Some would take the bread off and give it to someone sitting next to them, and just eat the meat. You had a six year old nephew who did the same.

A few took their sandwiches and would sit far away from the rest of the crew, like an animal guarding its resources.

But most of them sat in hoards on the floor of the barn and talked.

One, however, came over to talk to you, a pink man named Oblo.

"What kind of meat is this?" He asked. He had removed the top slice and was just eating the ham.

"Uh, it's ham.. It comes from a pig." you answered. You were still out in the barn having just given away the last sandwich, but you figured a bit if conversation wouldn't hurt.

"Are all animals edible here?" He asked, now just holding the plain slices of bread in his hand, seemingly unsure of what to do with them. This issue was quickly resolved when a shorter man just took them from him, and he just let it happen. No words exchanged.

"Most are, but not all, I guess. Some are toxic, even to humans, and some we're not allowed to eat because they're protected. And some we keep as pets, so if you see a dog or cat, please.. don't eat it."

He nodded. "I don't know what a dog is.."

You shook your head. "I'll let you know if we see one, don't worry about it." you said, figuring that would be easier than trying to explain a dog to someone who has never seen one before.

-

In the evening, you saw less and less Ravagers in the yard as it got colder, so they started migrating back into the barn where it was warmer.

You had busied yourself with finally taking some of the frozen goods down to the basement, flicking the one dim light on down there. Hoping the food was still good, you began to load things into the freezer, when something caught your eye in the side room.

It was your old TV. You had gotten a new one about a year ago and just stuck the old one in the basement.

You finished stocking the freezer and made your way into the side room to get a look at the TV. It was still in good condition. Maybe you could find a way to hook it up in the barn for the guys so they weren't just stuck out there with nothing.

But that was a project for tomorrow.

For now, you made your way back upstairs to get ready for bed. You made sure the front door was locked, but kept the back door open so people could come in if they needed to.

You figured they didn't want you dead, otherwise you already would be.

Freezing, late November air rolled across the fields outside and carried snow toward a single house in the middle of the country.

It was 4 am on a Friday morning, and you were asleep. At least until you heard a loud whooshing sound, followed by heavy, booming thuds that practically shook the land. On top of that, the area was now completely lit up, including your bedroom.

You shot up, grabbed your coat, shoes, and ran outside, thinking there had been a plane crash or something. The icy air enveloped you and bit at your skin as soon as you stepped onto the porch. Frosted grass crunched under your shoes as you ran toward the field. You weren't sure what you were going to find, but still thinking it to be a plane crash, you hoped maybe you could be of help.

Instead what you found was far more confusing, and didn't make sense. There were two large air crafts that didn't look like anything you'd seen before. They weren't planes, that was for sure. One was smoking, and red lights flashed from inside, and you could faintly hear an alarm. The other was tilted on its side, and all the lights were shut off.

The door on the flashing ship opened and people started to evacuate. Only when you stepped closer, you noticed they looked a bit.. not human. Sure, many of them looked human, but others had green or blue skin, some had crested skulls, red eyes, or sharp teeth.. They weren't human.

A blue man jogged down out of the ship, coughing as smoke rushed out after him. He had some sort of red fin on his head, and spoke with a rough voice, commanding the men to get to the other ship and help them open their door.

You watched as at least twenty men rushed over and began prying at the door until it finally opened, and a different crew exited.

A human looking man exited, followed by another who looked like he was made of glass or crystal.. Then a large, red alien with a tail instead of legs, and fins for ears, a woman, and a very large man in a yellow suit.

The human looking man immediately made his way over to the blue man and they seemed to launch into an argument on sight.

You couldn't make out everyone, as the area was only lit up by the lights from the ship that was smoking, and many of the men were standing in the darkness, trying to get away from all the smoke.

You almost forgot you were even standing there, just watching the scene unfold, until you heard a voice call out over the loud arguing.

"Cap'in, I don't mean to interrupt, but there's a Terran.." said another human-looking man, this one a little scrawny with pointed ears. You didn't think he was human, but he did look like it.

Suddenly the attention was on you. At least thirty something men out here, and all of them had turned toward you.

"I-" your own voice came out as a squeak, both from the sudden shyness and the lack of use, as it was four in the morning and you had just woken up, "I heard a crash, I thought maybe someone had gotten.. hurt.." you explained, your eyes flicking from alien to alien. You took a step back, intimidated.

The human-looking man that had just been arguing with the blue alien turned and approached you. He took your hand and shook it without giving you the chance to even raise it first. "Stakar Ogord. I apologize for landing our ships and damaging the field here, we needed to make an emergency landing."

"The fields not mine-" you started, but he continued like he didn't even hear you.

"We may have to stay here until we can get our ships repaired and in the air again. Until then, I guess we'll be your neighbors. No one should bother you, I just recommend you stay in your yard." He gave a rough pat to your shoulder and turned around, walking back toward the group, leaving you standing there.

Your mind was racing, and the exhaustion wasn't helping. In fact, you were half convinced this was a dream. You looked over at the blue man with the red crest, and he just waved you off, like he was shooing you back to your house. His message was clear.

We don't need your help.

With nothing left to say, and apparently nothing to do, you did the only thing you could think of and went back inside. You shut and locked the door, took your coat off, and stepped out of your shoes.

You wanted to go back to bed, but there was no way you could do that with maybe thirty to fourty aliens just outside. Instead, you started the coffee maker and figured you'd just start the day early, at 4:30 in the morning. That was fine. Five hours of sleep wasn't terrible. After you'd poured your cup, you remembered something and stepped back outside onto the back porch.

Once you found what you were looking for, you stepped back inside, shut the door, and started to pour a second cup of coffee, this time into a thermos.

You put your coat and shoes back on, and grabbed an extra coat from the closet before you headed back out, jogging back toward the group, right for the red snake-like alien.

He turned to face you and you froze. No mouth.

Suddenly the gesture felt silly and pointless.

He continued to stare, as did some of the others.

"Uh.. Well, I saw you.. earlier, when the ship- .. Well anyway, you look reptilian, and I thought maybe you were cold blooded, and it's twenty degrees out here.. Which isn't very safe for cold blooded creatures in general, so I brought you a coffee and an extra coat.. But uh.. Well I guess you can still use the coat." You said, handing it over, relived that he actually took it and put it on, bowing his head in silent thanks.

You heard a chuckle from that man earlier, Stakar. "He can still have the drink, his mouth is in his chest. But thank you, on behalf of Krugarr here, for thinking of him."

You could tell he was trying to be polite in order to stay civil, though he was trying to focus on the ships and the fact that they were all stranded now.

The red alien -Krugarr, you learned his name was- bowed his head again and accepted the drink. You realized he also was just trying to be polite, knowing you had good intentions.

You turned your attention back to Stakar. "Is there anything I can do to help? There's like forty of you, all stranded out here.. Do you need food or water maybe? Or a place to stay? My house isn't very big, but I've got a barn on my property that isn't being used."

The blue man with the red crest stepped up. "Can't you see we're handling it? Look, the gesture is appreciated, but we're fine. We don't need your help. We'll stay on our ship-"

"The ship that looks like it's on fire?" You retorted. "You'll die of smoke inhalation. My barn is open, I can get extra blankets and heaters out there. It's the least I can do, just let me help."

He stopped and grumbled a little, clearly irritated. He turned and looked at his crew. Some were visibly shivering, while others had their hands in their pockets, arms tightly tucked into their bodies, pretending not to be cold, but their captain knew his crew and sighed.

"Fine," he turned and faced you, "You can put the boys up in your barn until we get things figured out. But if they give you trouble, and they might, you come an' get me." He turned toward the man who had spoken up earlier, the scrawnier looking human-like man. "Go with them, make sure they don't destroy the place."

The man nodded and turned toward the crew. "Cap'in says we're stayin' in the Terran's barn until our ship is fixed up." He called out. And with a jerk of his head, they followed him, and he followed you.

As you walked across the field, you looked up at him. "Forgive me if this is rude, but.. Are you human?" you asked.

He shook his head. "Xandarian. We share a common ancestor with you Terrans, so we look mighty similar, but we're different."

Another awkward minute of silent walking before you introduced yourself. If you were hosting them, they might as well know your name.

He nodded. "I'm Kraglin, Cap'in's first mate. Behind me is Brahl, Horuz, Tullk, Retch, Gef.." He trailed off, realizing there were too many crewmembers. "Uh.. Well they'll introduce themselves when ya meet 'em." He was quiet for a moment before he spoke up again. "Cap'in won't say it, but thank you.. For lettin' us stay in your barn."

You nodded. "I couldn't let you guys stay outside, it's below freezing. A human wouldn't make it out here.. By the way, what's the name of your captain? That scary blue guy."

"Yondu Udonta. He's the captain of our faction, and Stakar is the captain of his own faction."

Finally you got to the barn, and yanked at the doors, pulling them open, watching as aliens rushed to get inside and out of the snow.

You turned back toward Kraglin, crossing your arms over your chest to try and warm up a little. "What caused you guys to crash here anyway?"

He exhaled and leaned against the door. "We was fightin' with the Kree. The Cap'in doesn't have good history with them, so when he sees their ships, he gets a little impulsive- you ain't heard that from me by the way." You nodded, and he continued.

"They cut us off, and he started chasin', and shootin'. It got so bad that Stakar came an' told him to stop, that he was gon' start somethin'. Then the Kree shot back and nearly took out our ship, and that's when Stakar got involved, cuz he don't like anyone messin' with Yondu. We eventually shot their ship down, but ours didn't turn out much better."

That's when you remembered them fighting. Everyone evacuated, and Yondu made sure Stakar and his crew got out safely, and then they started fighting. It reminded you of you and your family a little bit.

"Come on, I've got some blankets and heaters in my house, can you help me carry them?" You asked, walking toward the house. You heard him jog to catch up and follow you, taking that as a yes.

You came back out with two space heaters and ten blankets, some pulled from your own bed. It wasn't nearly enough, but some people were able to begrudgingly share, and others crowded around the heaters and just sat together. Some were nice enough to thank you, but most either nodded or just grunted.

"Don't take it personally," Kraglin had said, "Ravagers ain't exactly the nicest of people. We're pirates."

Great, you thought, I'm hosting space alien pirates in my barn.

You nodded to him as he headed over toward a stall meant for a horse but hadn't been used and was left empty. Turning to leave, you nearly ran into Yondu, who caught you by shoulders before you did.

"Oh, I'm sorry-" You started but he just let go and walked around you, joining his crew. It felt a little rude, but it was understandable, he was stressed about his ship.

As you walked back toward the house, you saw Stakar, Krugarr, and a very angry looking woman. You may not have known what Krugarr was, but you were sure he was cold blooded. He had to be, right?

"Hey, uh, there's some extra room in the house. I have the heat on, and there's a guest room, if you three would prefer to sleep inside instead of out in the barn." you offered.

The woman started to decline, but Stakar spoke faster, "That would be wonderful, thank you." He ignored the smack she delivered to his chest, and walked inside with her. As scary and as harsh as she was with Stakar, she did thank you on her way in, so you assumed maybe she just hadn't wanted to intrude.

She and Stakar got the guest room together, making you think they were together, and you set up Krugarr in the livingroom couch with a blanket. He may not have had a mouth, but you could see it in his eyes that he seemed to smile a little and was grateful.

You headed back to your room, finally and sat down on the bed, ready to get back to sleep.. When it hit you that you just impulsively let maybe forty dangerous, possibly armed, alien pirate strangers stay with you, and three of them were inside your house.

You hadn't even thought about it, you just let them in, trying to help. You didn't know them, where they were from, their intentions, anything. Sure they seemed nice, but didn't most murders when people talked about them on the news?

You got up and clicked the lock on the door shut before sitting back down. You were sure that wasn't enough to stop them, but if their intention was to rob you, maybe it would be safer to stay put in your room while they did their thing..

You checked the clock propped up on your dresser.. 5:35 am.

Maybe just an hour of sleep wouldn't hurt. They all seemed equally as exhausted anyway, maybe they wouldn't bother you.