Starboy

You found Astrophel in a field.

It was peaceful that night. The weather had been pleasant all week, and eager to soak up the outdoors before the true summer heat hit, you were stargazing in a field nearby. As you did, a shooting star landed in the very field you were in. Concerned and slightly (very) terrified for your life, you began to pack up your things to return home when you realized a person was climbing out of the crater the shooting star had left. Concerned for an entirely different reason, you directed the person that had appeared from the rubble to the nearest police station before heading home, head spinning from the string of unexpected events.

However, in your haste to return, you failed to realize that Astrophel had followed you home.

The first hectic weeks of you cohabiting with a sudden alien roommate was filled with lots of confusion and frustration, but eventually you were able to settle into a routine with him.

It really wasn’t too bad once you got used to him. As an alien looking to learn everything he could about Earth, Astrophel spent most of the day exploring the city alone, meaning that your regular routine wasn’t too disrupted. He kept his space clean, and didn’t need to eat much, claiming that basking in the moonlight was more efficient than eating organic items for energy. But, most importantly, he paid rent on time.

You didn’t know where he got the money to pay the rent since he couldn’t get a job without any documentation, but who were you to turn down free money?

Astrophel was ecstatic!

After his coming of age ceremony, he had expected to be travelling for much longer before he could find a hospitable planet to settle on as his parents had done. However, it seems that he had gotten lucky with the first planet he had stumbled on.

He’s been eagerly learning up all that he could about the planet called “Earth” by the humans (the main organisms on the planet). Humans, despite looking similar to Astrolings, operated quite differently. They needed to feed on prepared organic substances in order to sustain themselves. It was a terribly inefficient system but Astrophel could understand why they had not chosen to develop alternative ways of ingesting energy. The organic substances were delicious, so even if he received all of his energy by moonlight, he could not help but continue to try out new organic substances made in the little settlement structures nearby.

Another thing Astrophel has learned is that humans liked paper. The value they placed on some types of paper and not others baffled him at first, but he was able to program his printer to produce the paper that humans used without any issues. Additionally, it made his podmate happy to receive the paper and allowed for the exchange of goods, so he’s made sure to always have some on hand.

Now, Astrophel could confidently say he has blended in fully as a human.

Nodding smugly to himself as he floated in the air above your coffee table, Astrophel recounted everything he had learned since he arrived on Earth. A click from the door signaled that you had returned home from the small office box you travelled to each morning, and Astrophel was pulled out of his thoughts. Drifting over to you, he tugged on your hand.

"Come with me."

Tonight, as thanks for all of your work in sheltering him, Astrophel was going to teach you how to use moonlight as energy. It should prove helpful to you in the future, and he was sure you would be quite pleased with the efficiency of the method as opposed to your current method of ingesting prepared organic substances.