Answer the door

James took a deep breath, and opened the door. The officers he expected stood on the other side, warrant extended already. What he hadn't expected was the small blue Novaxan behind them. He'd hoped for a random human. Somehow, he realized, he'd half expected some trenchcoat wearing scruffy private eye to come in sniffing around like a hound and magically miss that his hungover girlfriend was the alien woman he was looking for.

He stepped aside, stunned. He was able to think quickly, though. "Uh...hi. Sorry just...never seen one of them in person." The police officers glanced at each other. By the look they had he was either very convincing or very...not. "Just, keep it down when you get near my room in the back, alright? My girlfriend is sleeping off a hangover."

The police sat down on his couch. The woman cop gestured at the house while looking at the Novaxan boy. "He doesn't speak English, but their Alpha's let him know what to do here. So just stay out of his way, and let him look. Meantime, we'll be asking you some questions."

James sat nervously across from them, while Sally silently made her way into the kitchen. Lacy spoke first, pulling out a pad and pen. "Full name?"

"James Stewart." The Novaxan boy was already feeling up the sand. Crap. Humans might not catch on, but one of them? He didn't know what to expect anymore and it was driving him up the wall.

"And the lady in your kitchen? Girlfriend?"

Sally spoke up for herself, rather convincingly stumbling over herself in a fake hangover. "Mmmno. Nahhh, I'm his sister. Sally."

"Okaaay...and how long have you been staying with your brother?"

"Couple's days. Me and his girlfriend are celebrating, and we tried to get him to join us, but he says someone should be the sober one. Pfff...coffee?"

Officer Lacy shook her head. Alan, however nodded. "Yes, thanks."

Lacy shot him a look, but continued her questions. "Your neighbors claimed to see a fish woman at your window. Any idea what they might have seen?"

James shook his head, lightly curling his bottom lip in. "Nope."

As Sally spoke, Lacy turned halfway to look at her. She almost grunted trying to speak while swallowing. "He wasn't home. His girl an' I had a bet to see who could freak out the crabby old guy who likes to watch the neighborhood. I won, and she had to down an extra five shots. Thank God, too, cuz I don't do the whole migraine hangover with grace."

"And how did that look like a fish woman?"

"She stripped an' stuck on a fish guy mask Jamie had for Halloween.", she spoke with the same entertained smile any other half-drunk girl would while talking about a funny story.

Lacy looked stunned. James **** himself not to hold his breath. Alan spoke next. "So...why are you so comfortable with an alien showing up with us? Your brother hasn't been able to stop looking."

"Mm, I met one at a college dorm I looked at. Not totally new...Jamie's probably tryin'a figure out why they're blue or what those flashes on his skin mean. He can't stop being curious."

With the police looking away from him, James gave his sister a silent gesture to shut up. They hadn't even talked about a whole story, where was she even getting all this? And what if they ask about that mask? He doesn't have one of those.