An Alien's Hallelujah

Logan browsed through the selections of this strange music shaman called Spotify. He could slightly see his reflection from the glass casing of the rectangular lifeline humans brought everywhere with them and every time his green skin came into view, it reminded him of the reason of the possible reasons Patton wouldn't return such strong feelings to him. He continued swiping his finger up and down through the songs that were so foreign to him as he tapped the selections. Eventually, he tapped his finger on a song selection and, after hearing someone talk about "premium payment", Logan heard a song that, if he guessed correctly, contained a lot of miracles, which is what Logan saw Patton as after so much prejudice and fear: a miracle. He thanked the "shaman" and listened to the song numerous times in order to sing it to him.

Logan wasn't technically from Earth, but just decided to reside on it after he leaves his own planet to explore the cosmos. He had heard that there were a lot of dangers on Earth, but he wanted to stay on Earth as a way of revealing to himself and his peers that there are good things about Earth that, unfortunately, were overshadowed by the bad. He had placed his equipment in a bag, shrunk the bag down, placed it in his pocket, and changed his pigment to a somewhat pink/cream color before he leapt out of his ship into the Earth's atmosphere. He bent his knees and stroked his head to give himself some brown locks that hid his antennas (he felt grateful that, since he was younger than a hundred, his antennas were still small). Logan walked around with nothing but the clothes on his back and his essentials in his pocket. He looked like an average person walking with nothing on him. He knew to avoid loitering or walking in the street, but he wasn't completely familiar with Earth's social customs.

He walked without stopping and was called multiple variations of "hobo" as well as many words that he was unfamiliar, but he guessed were supposed to be insults. Eventually, he stopped by a town in Florida where he figured he could fit in. Luckily, he was literate in multiple language and he noticed some environments and buildings reminded him of his own planet. One of the first places he entered was the library. He spent a few days clearing out the shelves just to read every book once. By the time he finished the last book on the first floor, he was able to get an idea of what hardships humans used t and still go through as well as what their brains could come up with that might unknowingly lead to their true potential. One of the librarians told him to leave and he heard whispers beforehand that they were concerned that he'd eventually live there. He walked behind a building and grew his bag of essentials to regular size before entering a bakery. He was familiar with the treats baked on his own planet, but he wasn't sure what they served in an Earth bakery.

With the Earth currency he was able to pick off the ground while he was walking, he managed to purchase a treat that was basically a creamy substance wrapped in dough that was labeled as "cannoli". He looked around and saw another person eating it by holding one end of the cannoli and biting the other end until all of it was eating. He tried it and, though there was a mess of crumbs on his face, he enjoyed it.

Logan was thinking about the roughness and knowledge that humanity had to offer and it made him realize that he wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to do on Earth since he was going to be there for a long while. As he was wallowing in confusion, he heard the bell ring and saw a man with a light blue shirt, khaki colored pants, a hoodie that resembled what Logan now knew was a cat, and glasses walked towards the counter. He looked at the man with such fascination. He looked roughly Logan's age and clearly lived on Earth, yet still had a smile on his face when Earth offered its fair share of hatred and bigotry that overpowered the good. After the man was done talking to the baker and got his order, he walked out the door. Logan was surprised by the man that he walked out of the bakery to follow him. He continued to follow the man as if he was in a trance, accidentally crossing streets that weren't stopped for him and bumping into people in the process.

Logan stopped when he saw the man turn to enter a building. As Logan looked in the window, he saw the man, but he also smelled a bunch of other creatures of different species in the building. The man was surprised when he saw Logan, but smiled as he waved him in. Logan walked in and looked around.

"Can I help you today, sir?" the man asked him.

"Oh, um, I saw you at the bakery. You looked so happy. I just need to know, with all that the world can throw at someone, how do you stay happy?" Logan asked with a hint of desperation in his voice.

The man seemed taken aback by Logan and the assumption that he must've followed him. He smiled again and placed a hand on Logan's shoulder.

"Well, it's not always easy, but, as someone who runs this animal shelter, being surrounded by the cute critters I love really helps me," the man told him.

The man gently grabbed Logan's wrist and led him down the hall to a door.

"Now, it would be best not to open the door too fast or too wide since they get pretty energetic," the man advised.

"What kind of, um, critters are in there?" Logan asked.

The man slowly opened the door and squeezed through the small space. Logan mimicked the action and found the room to be full of what Logan recognized as dogs. As he saw the man playing with the small dogs, Logan said out loud that the scene was too precious to process. The man giggled at the remark and stood up before extending his hand to Logan.

"Oh, by the way, I'm Patton. I guess you're new around here?" he introduced.

Logan shook the man's hand as a reaction.

"Yes, I'm Logan. I travel, but I thought I'd give this place a stay."

"Well, I have a guest bedroom that you can use if you need somewhere to stay."

Ever since then, Logan has stayed with Patton while learning about human customs. As far as Patton could guess, Logan was sheltered and was trying to learn how to get used to the outside world, so he decided to help however he could. In the meantime, right under the nose of everyone on Earth, he feigned documents to make himself seem like a legitimate human resident. He went to the shelter with Patton to spend time with the animals, even the cats (which he found out Patton's colleague, Kenny, took care of since Patton was allergic) and was able to see why they made Patton happy. He also had an earful of Patton's jokes that were explained to him every now and then.

One day, Logan was walking around taking notes to the point where he accidentally walked on the ceiling to avoid walking back and forth when he peeked into Patton's room while still upside down. Patton didn't have that signature smile on his face, but a frown in its place. He was also holding a stuffed dog close to his chest while lying in bed looking at the ceiling. Logan walked back onto the floor before giving Patton's door a light knock. Patton looked in Logan's direction.

"Oh, Logan, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was walking around the house and saw that you were feeling down. I didn't know you could experience sadness."

"Well, sometimes, looking happy is easier. When I'm surrounded by safe walls no one can see through, on the other hand..."

"... you feel more vulnerable."

"Pretty much, yea. You probably don't want to be bothered by it."

Logan wanted to help his friend and place them both on even ground, so he had an idea.

"I'll make you a deal. Since you're showing me your vulnerable state, I'll show you mine and you can tell me about your troubles. Deal?" Logan suggested.

"Alright, if you're willing to do so much personally for me, then I can't stop you," Patton gave in.

Patton watched as Logan stroked his brown locks away to reveal his antennas. He also saw as Logan's skin turned green. The two looked at each other (Logan in worry and Patton in shock) drowning in an awkward silence.

"This is what you meant by not being from around here?" Patton asked.

Logan nodded slowly.

"If you want, I can pack up tonight-"

"No, please don't go. You've been a great friend this whole time, even if you're not that skilled with emotions. Besides, I've always hoped that there would be at least one friendly visitor from beyond the stars."

"Well, we don't possess a lot of malice on my planet, so you don't have to worry."

It, soon, reached the point where Patton was able to get Logan a job at the shelter and they were both able to be vulnerable towards each other behind closed doors; Patton with his emotions and Logan with his past and species. Logan found himself enjoying Patton's company more and more; even when they were socializing others, Logan still wanted to be with Patton. After some odd discussions with the baker, whom Logan found out was named Roman, Logan came to realize that he had fallen in love with Patton. Many movies he had seen had shown folks serenading their feelings to the object of their affection, so Logan decided to give it a try.

He practiced at home whenever Patton had to leave to run some errands, so it gave Logan plenty of time to practice the song he chose. He also took Roman's suggestions into consideration and set up some candles and flower petals in an attempt to be romantic.

Patton came back in the evening and looked around at the display that he walked into.

"Logan?" he called out.

Logan walked out green skin and all.

"Hello, Patton. I understand if you don't feel so strongly about me, but I wanted to sing a song about miracles because you are a miracle to me," he explained.

Logan was singing the song "Hallelujah" and Patton couldn't help but smile at Logan not knowing about the conflicts within the song and smile at the fact that Logan would do this for him. Patton approached Logan and hugged him. Logan was surprised and hugged back.

"So, umm... will you do me the honor of being my boyfriend?" Logan nervously asked in the hug.

"Of course, Logan. You mean beyond this world to me."