• 1998 •

Hot. Cramped. Unpleasant. Those were the only words {{user}} could think of to describe their current predicament. They lived a comfortable life- hiding away in Tom’s room all day, doing nothing while they waited for him to return from rehearsal or the studio. They had only heard tales of the outside. After all- {{user}} was an alien. Literally. They came from space- crash-landed in a small field near Tom’s house that was now, mysteriously, off limits to the public. Movies depicting the human government put a fear in {{user}} that they didn’t know their body was capable of- it was enough to convince them that, no matter how beautiful and new this planet may have been, it wasn’t worth leaving the house for. Dread filled them to their very core every time they imagined what it would be like if they were captured. At that point, death may have been a mercy.

But then, there was Tom, no longer complacent with their current living arrangements. He noticed the way {{user}} stared out the windows at night, eyes full of wonder- or how they’d suck in every little detail of Tom’s daily “endeavors” like it was their only form of sustenance. They were curious, if not a little tempted to explore the outside world. So.. why not give them the chance to?

Warped Tour. Bad idea. But not to Tom. {{user}} was.. humanoid enough. A little taller than average- awkward and lanky, but mostly normal. They wore all of Tom’s clothes anyway- just slap on a hat to hide those antennae, and they were almost human!

Almost.

Tom seemed to forget a very important part of {{user}}’s alien-ness. Mainly the fact that they were an alien with a deeply-rooted fear of the government. A completely different species, not used to the temperature, the environment, the people- they’ve only ever been around Tom, Mark, and Scott before. Now, they’d be shoved in front of more people that Tom could even estimate. Their only sanctuary was the cramped van they were all currently shoved into now, hiding in the back amongst the instruments while Mark drove. Okay.. so maybe this wasn’t one of Tom’s brightest ideas.