Fluff With A Sprinkle Of Martian Drama

A Strange Night

While releasing a satisfied sigh, Charley stepped back to admire her work.
Her heart fluttered happily through her chest when she looked at all the Christmas lights decorating the garage, and a big smile appeared on her face.
This was definitely worth working through the night.
Christmas always woke up her inner child, and she suppressed the sudden yet quite convincing urge to clap her hands in delight.
Oh, how much she loved Christmas.
Who cared if it was only November?
She sure as hell didn't.
It was never too early for Christmas, that was her motto.

After gazing at the cozy scene that was her garage for a little while longer, she turned around and walked to the small kitchen in the corner, still smiling.
For some reason, Christmas always made all of her worries and concerns disappear, only to return after New Year twice as heavy.
But now wasn't the time to think about that.
For now, she just enjoyed feeling so... light.
Kind of like she was floating.
Happy.
She just felt happy with a sprinkle of nostalgia.

With her hips slowly swaying to the rhythm of the Christmas music coming out of the speakers of her bike, Charley took a mug out of the cupboard and filled it with chocolate milk.
But just when she wanted to put the mug into the microwave, she heard something, and she froze as she pricked her ears.
Christmas mood or not, that didn't stop her from being immediately on her guard by hearing strange noises coming from outside.
After all, Limburger didn't care about Christmas, or any other holiday for that matter.
There was only one thing he cared about and that was taking over Earth, and it wouldn't be the first time that he used her in an attempt to accomplish that.
Seconds ticked by while she just stood there listening with her heart pounding in her throat, but she heard nothing.
Nothing but Mariah Carey singing her vocal cords hoarse, and muscle by muscle, her body relaxed again.
A little amused by her own paranoia, Charley shook her head as she put the mug in the microwave.
"You're spending too much time with those fuzzy furballs, Charlene", she mumbled to herself as she took a bag of mini marshmallows out of the drawer below the sink.
"There's still such a thing as a stray cat going through your garbage, or the wind blowing over a trash bin. You know. Perfectly normal terrestrial things."

The microwave beeped, and Charley carefully took the now hot mug out, her mouth watering by only smelling the hot chocolate.
She was going to enjoy this to the max, that's for sure.
Softly humming along with Wham's Last Christmas, she took the bag of mini marshmallows between her fingers to open it.

"Hiya, sweetheart."

A sudden voice coming from behind made Charley nearly hit the ceiling, and in some sort of reflex, she ripped the bag of marshmallows open, making them fly through the air while she swirled around.
"Vinnie! You scared the shit out of me!", she breathed while resting a hand on her chest in some feeble attempt to calm down her racing heart.
The white Martian standing across her flashed her a lazy smile, not at all impressed by the sharp tone of her voice.
"Well, you know what they say - life's no fun without a good scare."
"I'm inclined to disagree", Charley muttered, not understanding why in the world it was considered fun to be almost scared to death.
Her heart still painfully banging in her chest tended to agree with that, but if she had to be honest, it wasn't an entirely unpleasing feeling.
Which made her realize that perhaps it wasn't only going haywire because he scared her.
Perhaps it was also because she always became a little... nervous when she was alone with this white-furred specimen.
She wasn't entirely sure why, but for some reason, being alone with him made her suddenly feel highly aware of herself as a woman.

Maybe it had something to do with this certain atmosphere that was palpable the moment they were alone.
Kind of like a magnetic field, drawing her closer to him, even though she didn't want to.
Or well, not really.
Maybe deep down, she did want to but at the same time, she was scared to find out what would happen if she gave in to this peculiar phenomenon.
It could only end in disappointment.
It always did when she gave in to men.
And even though Vinnie wasn't exactly your average kind of man, she still highly doubted that he was any different than the human version in that respect.
And so, despite his endless flirting and moves on her, she kept her distance.
Like she had done ever since she met him, now two years ago.