As Luke headed to his room, he couldn’t help but be curious about the type of life Hallie had lived on Earth and how she managed to travel in time and somehow end up here on another planet. Although he had dedicated many years to his studies of Earth and Earthlings, he had never imagined he would be able to meet one in person. In addition to the curiosity, he is able to recognize that he feels something more, a protectiveness that he hasn’t felt toward anyone before. Maybe it has something to do with the way he found her, but he is able to admit that it feels like something more. 

“I shouldn’t be having any sort of feelings toward her anyway, I just met her today.” he said, shaking his head. No matter what, I am not going to be acting on them anytime soon. Everything in her life has just changed, and I am not going to take advantage of that, he thought to himself. 

Besides, there are a number of other things that need to be figured out, for example, no food in the house. He began to quickly put together a basic grocery list so that he is at least able to cook her something to eat in the morning. While writing the list, he realized she is going to need some new clothes to wear to the Teca tomorrow and resolved to go out in the morning to visit his cousin’s shop and get her something. With his morning planned out, Luke went to bed. 

He stretched out in his bed as he woke up and looked outside to find it still dark outside. Looking over at his clock, he notices that it is 5:30. Time to get up, he thinks as he heads to the bathroom for a quick shower. As he finishes getting ready, he writes a short note to inform Hallie that he has gone out to the store, in case she wakes up while he is gone. 

By 6:30, Luke was ready to leave and first went to his cousin’s shop. Upon arriving, he knocked on the door until his cousin opened it. 

“We aren’t even open yet, it is 7:00 am and it is too early to be out here banging on my door. What do you want?!” Alice shouted. 

Despite her cranky personality in the morning, Luke calmly replied, “I need some women’s clothing. She is about your size, but I don’t have anything for her to wear…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Alice pulls him inside and enthusiastically begins running around the store picking up a variety of outfits and piling them up on the front counter. As she grabs clothing, she excitedly begins talking, “So you’ve finally decided to find someone and settle down, you know we were beginning to think you would be alone forever. What does she look like? How long have you been seeing her? Oh and, when can I meet her?”

Luke immediately sighs before saying, “I just need a few basic outfits and I plan to bring her by later to pick out stuff she likes. We are not dating-”

“What do you mean, you’re not dating her? She’s okay with you buying her clothes though?” Alice immediately asked, stopping in her tracks.

Luke then explains to Alice how he found Hallie, where she’s from and why she is currently staying at his house as they find a way to help her get home. Alice nods in sympathy and says, “I would still like to meet her, after all, I haven’t seen you smile while talking about a girl in a long time.”

With a blush coating his cheeks, Luke asks for her to put a few basic outfits in a bag and responds saying, “I am not pursuing anything with her right now, her entire life has changed overnight, and I’m not taking advantage.”

Alice smiles and says, “You better not, or I’ll have to beat you up for her. Bring her by later or I’ll come hunt you down after work, understood?”

“Yes, I’ll bring her by later. Just try not to scare her or say anything weird.”, Luke says before grabbing the clothes and making his way towards the door. After saying goodbye and giving Alice one last wave he made his way to the small grocery store down the street and picked up a few things from the grocery store. 

By the time he arrived at home, it was already 8:30. The talk with Alice had taken longer than expected. Despite this, Hallie still wasn’t awake. After putting away the groceries, grabbing a snack and writing a new note, Luke walked the few blocks to the Teca to speak to Warlen, this city’s Great One. 

He didn’t expect Warlen to already be awake and looking through his research. “Hello, did you even notice me coming in?” Luke asked.

“Hello, hello!” Warlen says excitedly. “What time did you get back home, my boy?” he asked. Without a pause he continued, “I have done it, done it I tell you. It has actually worked, I was able to track the magic on the monitor. It was near your brother’s place, did you see it?”

Luke immediately congratulated Warlen on his achievement before telling him of his discovery. As he told Warlen all that he knew about Hallie, he could tell that the Great One was even more excited than earlier. By the time Luke had finished his explanation, Warlen was pushing him out of the door and telling him to bring Hallie to his Lab after lunch, because he had some machines that he needed to get primed. As he began closing the door, he added, “Make sure you bring that shirt, I want to cross-reference it against the one we have.”

Heading home, Luke realized that he hadn’t quite expected this, Warlen was usually the type to sleep in late in the morning so it was out of character for him to be up this early and to be excited about something. It must have been quite the discovery, he thought as he headed home to check on Hallie.