The house looked very familiar to what I’d seen on Earth. Entering this new place was when I woke up from the daze I had been in ever since landing here because a part of me relaxed at the familiarity of the architecture. “It’s beautiful here,” I mentioned, trying to break the silence between me and Tryox. He just huffed and dropped one of my bags in front of my feet before heading to what looked like the kitchen. I assumed that he didn’t want to hear any compliments about his house. He didn’t seem like the type to talk a lot. So, I grabbed my bags and searched for a free room. I wanted to show that I could do basic tasks and wasn’t a helpless human being who needed to bother my partner for assistance all the time.

Upstairs, I found two bedrooms, a smaller one and a bigger one. The smaller one also had a smaller bed which led me to believe that it was the guest room. Slightly relieved to finally settle down, I threw my bags on the floor next to the bed. “What do you think you’re doing?” a rather deep voice asked behind me. I was greeted by red eyes glaring at me when I turned around.

“I just thought I could take this bed,” I mumbled, looking away to avoid the intensity of his glare.

Tryox let out a short, angry chuckle, “Just like you take everything else.” He grabbed my bag and shoved it into my arms again. “Go to your room!” He pointed at the room on the opposite side of the hallway, the bigger bedroom. Slightly confused, I left the room and entered the other one. Tryox was right behind me but stayed outside of my room.

Once I had put my bags down, I turned to him again, “Sorry.” This only made him roll his eyes as if he didn’t believe that I was actually sorry. “Do you have a moment to show me where I can get something to eat? I didn’t eat properly in the past few hours.” He just nodded and walked away, making me follow him to the kitchen.

He opened the big fridge and pointed at its contents. "This is a fridge, you can keep food cold in there," he mentioned, sarcasm clear in his voice. He smirked at me when I was lost for words and let the fridge close again. Of course, I had seen the fridge when entering the house, but I thought I couldn't just take Tryox's food.

To spare myself from further embarrassment, I muttered a quick "Thank you" and headed back to my room. What a great start to a new day and a new life…

***

In the evening, it had been quiet for long enough for me to dare leave my room again. I thought Tryox was in his room and my stomach didn’t allow me to stay hidden any longer. However, as soon as I entered the living room, I saw the blue guy sitting on the couch, watching TV. Funnily enough, he was watching a show that I remembered from my youth. Were those shows a part of the deal between Earth and this planet?

“You can’t sneak up on me if that’s what you’re attempting,” he stated without even turning to me. I looked away from the TV screen and quickly headed to the kitchen. “Your dinner is in the microwave. Let’s hope you know how to use it,” he murmured.

I turned around and gave him a small smile, “Thanks.” I assumed that, despite his slightly rude behaviour, he cared about the guest in his home. He just raised one eyebrow and gave me a questioning look before staring back at the TV. Yes, I knew how to use a microwave.

My plan was to eat in the kitchen, do the dishes and then head up to my room again. However, a knock on the front door made me storm out of the kitchen and up the stairs with the plate in my hands. Tryox gave me a quick, confused look when I rushed away but I didn’t notice it. Fleeing from a knock on the door was an instinctual action for me that had gotten me into lots of issues back on Earth. Now, I thought I could just hide. This wasn’t my house after all, right? From my spot on the stairs, I couldn’t see the front door but I also couldn’t be seen by anyone walking into the house. I just heard Tryox sigh heavily before he stood up and opened the door. “She’s already asleep, the day tired her out,” he said without any greeting.

“Did she eat?” the person at the door asked.

“Yes.”

“Did you give her a tour of the town?”

“No, as I said, the day tired her out.”

“Then make sure she’s having a better day tomorrow so she can give feedback on your work,” the person replied, sounding quite angry. There was a short moment of silence before the person continued questioning Tryox, “Why are you wearing shoes in her house?”

“She hasn’t asked me to take them off,” he answered in an annoyed tone.

“That’s no reason to get dirt into her house. You do remember that her judgment of you and her well-being define your future, right?” Another silence, then the person continued, “Don’t leave the house without her. We’ve already had a runaway today.” A moment later, the door was slammed shut and I could hear Tryox walk around. He turned off the TV and came closer to the stairs, probably to head to his room.

“What was that about?” I asked timidly, still sitting on the stairs with the plate in my hands. Tryox just huffed when he saw my hiding spot. I was confused, the conversation didn’t make sense to me - at least, not with the information I had so far. “Why did they call it my house? Why does my well-being define your future?”

“For the same reason that I have to watch stupid Earth shows,” Tryox spat out. I must have looked quite confused which made him laugh in disbelief. “Why are you all here?”

“Because humans needed a new place to live.”

“Exactly, you want more space to live and don’t care about what’s in your way! This is our planet, we’ve lived here for more centuries than your planet existed! We have our own culture, we had our own lives here!” the blue guy shouted.

I shrank back a bit, unsure why he was so angry, and mumbled “We’re not taking that away from you.”

“Right, because you’d never do that, would you? It’s not like you have done that more than once in Earth’s history, is it?” He took a few steps up the stairs. “You humans have destroyed your planet and now you’re here to ruin ours.” Without another word, he rushed past me and slammed the door to his room shut.

I just sat there, finally understanding the gravity of it all - or maybe just a part of it.