Work Text
BEEP.BEEP.BEEP.It was already 3 AM? Christ, time flies when literally nobody comes into a shitty, understaffed fast food place in Columbus, Ohio.
Tyler let out an exhausted sigh, flopping over the countertop and absentmindedly pressing the buttons on the cash register, not really giving a shit about what he might be doing to the calculations or whatever.He’d been texting Avery all night, bickering about little bullshit things and not caring that he was on camera 24/7. He always forced a smile at the cameras, just to be an ass. Avery was probably one of his closest friends, besides his step-brother Azrael. They supported him. He wanted to hang out with them more, but he was stuck here, without any rest. This job sucked, but it kept him stable after he had moved out.His parents weren’t so happy when he came out, so he’d gotten out of there ASAP. But with independence comes responsibility. AKA getting a job. AKA working the night shift when nobody wanted to get tacos in the middle of the night. His watch was silent, now displaying “3:05” on the screen. Ugh. Time either went fast or slow, and he never seemed to catch a break. His body felt heavy. He hadn’t slept last night. "You’re an idiot, Joseph." He thought to himself, resting his head against his arm.His eyelids were getting heavy. His body was sore, his mind exhausted as he tried not to fall asleep. But he wasn’t strong enough to stop it. His eyes fell closed, his mind finally at peace…CRASH.Tyler immediately jolted upright, grabbing the broom next to him and frantically looking around for the source of the noise. He blinked a few times, before hesitantly walking over to the door of the fast food restaurant. The bell above the door jingled as he stepped outside, looking around the dark parking lot. Nothing. But, across the road, there was this large block of land that nobody owned, that was full of trees and random shit no one paid attention to. A faint blue glow was obvious from inside the trees.It was surprisingly cold for April, and as Tyler slipped into the trees, he was completely dumbfounded when he saw the literal UFO in front of him. Crashed into the ground, dug into the dirt like a kid’s abandoned shovel at a beach. It didn’t look like a normal UFO in sci-fi movies, more like a big box with thrusters and a windshield at the front. But the weirdest thing? A person standing outside the ship, looking completely and utterly confused. But the more Tyler looked, the more he realised that the person was not a person — Antennae, fluffy hair and skin that looked teal in the dark, and… absolutely no clothes.The person turned around, with large, dark eyes, staring straight at the minimum wage worker wearing an apron and holding a broom like a weapon. They seemed to wince when the bright lights from the Tacobell hit them like a flashbang. Tyler turned, rushing back inside and ditching the broom, his face red as he returned with a tablecloth to put over the alien’s shoulders, and keep him covered. Tyler did not want to see alien dick. Although it was long… NO! No, Tyler-! Get your shit together!!The alien, looking completely bewildered by his surroundings, fell back and landed on his ass when he was startled by Tyler chucking the tablecloth over him. Tyler sat beside him, holding a water bottle up with a concerned expression. The alien seemed to hesitate, but still took the water and took a slow sip. It seemed to refresh him, as his antennae unfurled and swayed a little bit, like a bug’s. Tyler had to admit, it was cute.“Are you… okay?”Tyler asked quietly, although he was met with nothing but the sound of the alien quietly sipping the water. Maybe this guy was mute? Or scared? He certainly didn’t seem to want to respond. Maybe he just spoke differently…? Both the alien and the human were shocked out of their skin when a rather loud “ping” came from Tyler’s back pocket. Damn it, Avery- she must be doing an hourly check-in. Although the alien seemed terrified, because he’d backed away against a tree, his antennae curled back up again.“Hey, no, it’s ok- it’s just my phone, don’t be scared-” Tyler quickly says, grabbing out his phone and texting Avery a quick “I’m fine - ttyl” before putting it on do not disturb and placing the phone to the side, to prove it was harmless. Once the phone was placed aside, the alien seemed to relax, moving back over to Tyler and sipping the water again. He looked relieved to not be in immediate danger, which was fair. He was on a completely new planet, confused and scared, and his ship was stranded completely.Tyler felt bad. He knew how it felt, to be lost in such a big world. But he didn’t press further, he instead watched the alien to make sure he wasn’t choking on water or injured. The alien seemed preoccupied with looking up at the stars. Probably missing home , Tyler thought to himself. Hope he’s not gonna freak out from that... After at least thirty minutes of the alien finishing off the water he’d been given, Tyler stood up, holding out a gentle hand and smiling softly at the new creature before him. “Let’s get you inside before your antennae freeze off. I can make nachos or something for you, you’re probably starving.” The employee said in a calm tone, watching the alien carefully to make sure that he wasn’t scaring the poor thing.The alien hesitated again, but after a moment, he grabbed Tyler’s hand with his own flocked, teal one.𖦹.𖥔 ݁ ˖Tyler was honestly glad this guy had agreed to go inside. His hands were freezing and he could barely put the bowl of nachos together like he did when the place was busy. But he managed in the end, walking back over to where the alien was sitting, who was looking around at the dull purple, blue, and peach interior. When the alien spotted the nachos and smelled them, his antennae unfurled immediately and perked up in excitement and curiosity. What were those? They smelt delicious. Reminded him of home.Tyler sat across from him, placing the nachos between the two, and immediately began to list the ingredients in case this alien guy was allergic to something. “It’s got Nacho Cheese Sauce, sour cream, guac, and “fiesta salsa”, which is basically just salsa. The chips are just corn chips or something with spices on top.” The alien didn’t understand any of those words and didn’t care. He grabbed a chip and stuffed it in his mouth. His antennae immediately perked up in excitement, and he grabbed another, and another, scarfing them down like a starving man. He kind of was a starving man.The minimum wage worker just stared in shock. The nachos here weren’t that good, honestly. But the alien ate it like it was a five-star meal. He pinched a few nachos here and there, but he mostly focused on the alien. Who was kind of cute… not again, dammit! Get a grip, Tyler!!! But even the rational side of him knew it was true. Whoever this guy was, he was cute and definitely worth Tyler’s time. After like three minutes, the alien had finished the nachos, staring at Tyler in dead silence.“...Can you even understand me?” He asked hesitantly. Still no response. Weird. Maybe he was-“I… can try.” The alien suddenly said, making Tyler jump. Oh dear lord his voice was pretty. He felt his cheeks heat up, but hid his blush away and cleared his throat, speaking quietly. “Do you have a name? I can’t keep calling you “alien thingy” in my head.” The alien could definitely pick up on Tyler’s nervousness. He blinked, before nodding softly, and made a series of soft chittering and clicking noises from the back of his throat. Wow, alien names were weird.“...Can you translate that to English?” Tyler asked with a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. He probably looked like an absolute idiot to this pretty alien… but the alien didn’t hesitate, holding out a hand to shake and nodding.“Josh.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Tyler’s home was… a broken one.Alcoholic father, shitty mother, three siblings that never shut up. He loved his brothers and sister, but they were starting to act like their parents. He knew it was a bad idea to leave them alone in that house but he couldn’t sacrifice everything to keep them safe when they could do it themselves.He remembered the day he told them he was leaving. His mother was crying, and his father was screaming at him, trying to hit him, trying to–Tyler’s thoughts cut off as he pulled up in the carpark of his apartment block. He sighed, looking over at “Josh”, who had been admiring the lights of the city the entire drive, and smiled slightly. If the alien had a tail it would’ve been wagging the whole way there.Josh’s antennae were perked up slightly, his pupils blown wide with excitement as he stared up at the skyscrapers that littered the city, a curious look on his face. He still had the tablecloth wrapped around him, and the seatbelt held him to the seat safely.“Alright,” Tyler said, turning the car off and watching Josh perk up at his voice. “We’re here. No one is awake by now so I can probably get you inside unseen.”Josh nodded softly, as Tyler unblocked both of their seatbelts and opened his door, getting out of the car. He slid over the hood of the car (mainly to look cool in front of Josh, but he wouldn’t admit that. While sober, at least.)He opened the door, with Josh staring up at him like a golden retriever given the body of an adorable, hot goddess. The alien let Tyler help him out of the car, leading him to the front doors of the lobby. They walked through as quickly as they could, making it to the elevator, as the minimum wage worker gently pulled some of the tablecloth over Josh’s head like a hood.Josh watched, not doing anything to stop him as he stared up at Tyler. “Perfect.” Was all he thought as he stared up at the human boy. This was the one.Tyler navigated through the halls of the fifth floor easily, the place memorised like the back of his hand as he hummed to himself quietly, occasionally looking back to make sure Josh was following and also not dead or something.The key slips in perfectly when Tyler unlocks the door, not even noticing how easily he opens up his apartment. The two step in, and Josh is immediately in awe. It’s beautiful. And surprisingly spaced themed. Multi-coloured glowing stars are stuck to the walls, the only lights are the red and blue LED lights that line the room’s walls, and overall the damn place was cozy.To the left was an open, small kitchen, that looked well-used, and to the right was the lounge “room,” just as open as the kitchen, with a couch covered in blankets, a Nintendo Switch, and a wall-mounted TV. Past the kitchen was a dining table, surrounded by windows that looked out into the street, and a hallway to the right probably led down to the bathroom and bedroom.Tyler kicked off his shoes and shut the door, letting out a tired sigh. He looked over at Josh, who seemed… bewildered. Which was fair. The minimum wage worker smiled slightly, before tapping the alien’s shoulder to get his attention. “I’ll go get you some clothes. Sit down over there, K? If anyone knocks on the door, just… hide under the couch or something.” He instructed, pointing over to the couch.Josh nodded and walked over to the couch, hesitantly sitting down and looking around. Tyler wandered off to find Josh some clothes, and a blanket. And maybe a brush for his hair.It was quiet in the apartment for another hour or two, Tyler helped the alien get changed, brush his (concerningly knotty) hair, and get comfortable on the couch. It didn’t take long for Josh to start to doze, though…“Mmm…” The alien hummed, his eyes shut and his body leaning against Tyler as he drifted off.Tyler was stuck, his face slowly going red with each soft snore that escaped Josh. After a moment of internal battles and hating himself for what he had to do, he gently shook Josh’s shoulder. “Hey… hey, Josh… wake up, let’s get you into my bed, yeah?”Josh stirred at the soft-spoken words, gently blinking his eyes open and looking up at the pretty human. He nodded lazily, his eyes barely open. Tyler knew the implications of saying “Get you into my bed,” but he couldn’t be bothered to be embarrassed. He had an alien to care for.The two stood up, as Tyler led the sleepy extraterrestrial down the hallway, into his cozy bedroom. I would describe it, but… it’s what you’d expect from Tyler Joseph. I don’t have to say anything. Josh was placed onto the bed, and immediately cuddled up to one of the pillows and shut his eyes again, the blanket draped over him like a king’s robe.Tyler blushed again, which was odd. He never blushed this much. Was he really that head over heels for this fluffy, green alien?Yes.Yes he was.Suddenly, though, before another convenient time skip could occur, Josh grabbed Tyler’s arm tightly, tugging him closer. The tips of his antennae were glowing… yellow? Actually, most of his fur was glowing at the tips. He looked beautiful.“Cuddle time.” Was all Josh said, pulling Tyler down on top of him and burying him in the fluffy blanket. What the fuck was cuddle time?? Tyler squirmed, his face flushed as he tried to figure out what was going on. Sweet god, he was going to die if he was stuck like this. But he didn’t get freedom. Just soft, comfy fur buried in his face.After a moment of weakness, he succumbed to the hug, weakly snuggling with the alien. He soon looked up, staring at Josh with a bewildered expression, his voice shaky as he spoke. “What’s the point of this-?” He questioned, watching the alien’s antennae twitch softly.“Cuddle time. Do humans have it at a different time?” Josh asked, tilting his head as the two snuggled together like penguins huddling in the cold. They fit together like puzzle pieces, ones that complete… something. They just didn’t know what yet.“Cuddle time? Humans don’t have that. What on earth is cuddle time?” Tyler asked, pulling himself up so the two were face to face, able to look eachother in the eyes as they held their warm bodies close.Josh blinked in surprise before he reached up to gently play with Tyler’s hair as he spoke. His English was still a little broken, but it was understandable enough to know what he was saying. “Cuddle time, on my planet, is a random time of day when we all get the instinct to start cuddling with the nearest living creature. Animals, our people, anything on the surface of the planet. It’s a shame humans don’t have that. Maybe that’s why the rest of the galaxy talks about you being very… toxic.”Tyler blinks. It’s no surprise any other aliens out there hate humans. They suck. A lot. That’s why nothing ever responds to their calls out to space. “Just.. anyone? What if it’s someone you don’t like?” He asks, gently fidgeting with some of the fluff on Josh’s arm. Josh blinked, before tilting his head as he answered. “We don’t hate anyone on our planet. And if we did, why would we be near them?” Fair point.The human shrugged, his eyes shutting again as he got comfortable and sighed softly. “You’re right. Humans are just odd.” The silence went on for a while before he heard Josh start to snore. Probably a good signal that he should sleep too.