Feb. 2, 2012: Telemiscommunications

In the weeks since Sonny’s birthday, Joel had plenty of time to ruminate on what Sonny told him, that he was an alien. It didn't make sense. Joel had never believed in aliens, really, at least not in this capacity- sure, the universe was a big fucking place and it was ridiculous to think Earth was the only planet with life on it. But he didn't think humans could ever realistically expect to talk to aliens, much less end up engaged to one without their knowledge.

But seeing how much his heat affected Sonny- seriously, Sonny was usually the one having to keep up with his sex drive- and how sensitive he seemed to be about the alien stuff, the way he'd hesitated to tell him… it couldn't be some sort of elaborate prank, right? Joel could be an asshole and he wouldn’t like Sonny if there was never any pushback, but Joel couldn’t think of anything off the top of his head he’d done to warrant this level of mindfuckery. And Sonny wasn’t actually in the habit of messing with Joel unless Joel was already messing with him.

So, Sonny couldn’t be lying, which was somehow scarier than the idea that Sonny was trying to totally mindfuck him.

Joel had been contemplating this all while at work in his studio- not necessarily on anything particular, moreso dicking around. While he and Sonny had talked about releasing a joint EP or album sometime after the wedding (after all, think of the free publicity), nothing was set in stone yet. He saved his work anyway, despite it being more of some chords and synths that went well together than an actual song yet, and got up to head into the kitchen and get something to eat. He’d been hunched over his equipment way too long anyway; his back was starting to hurt.

As Joel entered the kitchen, he saw Sonny sitting at the table, doing something on his laptop while he ate a bowl of cereal. 

“Hey, Skrills,” Joel casually greeted as he passed by Sonny, deciding to be just a little bit annoying. He stopped behind Sonny for a second, running a hand through his hair… only to push one arm of his glasses off his face before continuing on his course toward the cabinet.

“Dickhead!” Sonny called out behind him as he adjusted his glasses, forcing a laugh from Joel. He couldn’t help fucking with Sonny- he was cute when he was mad.

“Yeah, I’m the worst!” Joel affirmed, grinning ear to ear. He wasn’t looking at Sonny right now, but he could just fucking imagine that look he got on his face when he got trolled, all flushed and indignant. “What’s so important you couldn’t take a lunch break?”

“Not that important. Just replying to fans on Twitter, man. This guy’s really mad you hijacked my set for your ‘ fagot bull shit. ’”

“Tell him I’ll suck your dick onstage next time we’re in Miami just to piss him off.”

Sonny laughed at that comment and went back to clacking away on his keyboard, comfortable background noise as Joel set to work making himself a bowl of mac n cheese. Fulfilling? not quite. Impossible to fuck up? Absolutely. In most cases.

Joel grumbled in frustration as he opened the cabinet to find no bowls in sight… and, now he turned his head to look, a metric shitload of dishes. Not that this was a new sight since Sonny's supposed heat had started, but it was awfully inconvenient. 

"Sonny, it's your turn to do the dishes."

"What?" Sonny called out, audibly baffled. "But it was my turn yesterday!"

"Then why did I wash literally all of these bowls last night?"

Sonny turned to look at the sink full of dishes, then at Joel, then sheepishly sank back into his seat. "Oh, I- guess it is my turn, yeah…"

Joel felt inexplicably bad for Sonny all of a sudden, seeing his cheeks tinge rosy pink with embarrassment. He sighed and paced over to the sink.

"Here, I'll get it started. You finish eating."

"Are- Are you sure?" Sonny asked.

Joel held back in that moment. He wasn’t sure why, he just felt like he owed Sonny an apology, for… something. He wasn’t even sure what. For existing? For telling him he needed to do the dishes? He knew he didn’t need to apologize for anything, except maybe not believing Sonny, but there was no way he could have been expected to just believe Sonny was a goddamn alien, right?

“I- yeah, I’m sure. I need to talk to you anyway.”

“Oh.”

Sonny’s tone of voice didn’t exactly inspire confidence in Joel that this conversation was going to go well. He could tell Sonny was expecting the worst- it was in the poor boy’s nature, it seemed, to feel like he was walking on eggshells around Joel lately. Joel really wished he wouldn’t feel like that around him, but he also knew it was his own damn fault for being so callous and careless toward him and everyone else he knew. He wished he knew how to be a little more open and maybe even gentle without feeling like a giant dweeb, and then maybe Sonny wouldn’t be so scared of him.

But whatever. Dishes.

Joel went ahead and got the dishwater started while Sonny wrapped up what he was doing, and just as he turned off the tap, he heard the telltale sound of Sonny closing his laptop. It wasn’t long before the younger man was pressed up to his side, setting his empty bowl in the sink. Sonny wouldn’t meet his eyes as he grabbed a dishrag and got started cleaning. 

“What did you want to talk about?”

Joel frowned, unsure how to broach the topic. He felt like an asshole just for fucking daring to be in Sonny’s presence.

“You said you were going to tell me more when I was ready.”

Sonny visibly stiffened. Seemed like neither of them wanted to have this conversation.

“About, you know. The alien thing.”

“Oh, Joel-” Sonny passed the bowl over to Joel, even as he shied away. “Just… forget about that, I already know you don’t believe me and-”

“Sonny- Skrillex. I believe you." 

"You… do?" Sonny said more like a question than anything else, unsure- fuck, Joel hated that he was so unsure of himself.

"I didn't, but I don't know why you would lie about that," Joel admitted, now focused more on Sonny than the dishes anyway. Stupid Sonny with his cute face. Joel wanted to kiss away every last insecurity, every shred of uncertainty. But this wasn't really the time. He was trying to have a serious conversation here.

"And… you being in heat checks out. To put it lightly."

Sonny blushed at that comment, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He didn't have any jewelry in at the moment, but Joel never failed to notice the piercing holes left in his lip when he smiled. 

"Ha, yeah… um, there's one thing I haven't told you about my heat, I guess?"

"Go ahead, shoot," Joel prompted, feeling the tension melt away as he finally got to rinsing the bowl he'd been holding.

"I, uh… I need to get pregnant. Or I'll die."

The tap remained on much longer than it needed to, Joel grappling desperately for words, before eventually turning it off and settling on, "What."

"I- I know, it sounds weird," Sonny muttered, awkwardly clutching a cup in a way that gave the distinct impression he was afraid Joel would hurt him. "It's- It's not unheard of on this planet, female ferrets are similar-"

"No, rewind, you can get fucking pregnant? I thought you were a man."

"I am," Sonny clarified. "Males of my species are able to get pregnant. Like seahorses."

"Male seahorses get pregnant?"

"Yeah!" Sonny shifted nervously. "I spent a lot of time when I found all this out looking for animals on Earth that worked like I did."

"Huh," Joel remarked, and he told himself he'd accept anything he said without question, but… "How do you know all this? You said you were raised by humans."

"I knew my real parents-"

"You knew them?"

Joel immediately regretted asking, of course, because the way Sonny shrunk back indicated he'd hit a sore point. 

"Wait, shit- You don't have to tell me if it's…"

"No, you deserve to know," Sonny insisted, taking a deep breath. "I'm not the only one of my kind on Earth. There aren't a lot of us, but we exist."

"So you could have just gotten with another alien and you wouldn't have to have this conversation in the first place?"

"Well, I guess... I don’t really know any. But my parents really wanted me to find another alien. Though…" Sonny lowered his voice, sounding almost embarrassed to say the words out loud. "I wanted you instead."

A part of Joel, somewhere deep in his chest, felt all soft and fuzzy when Sonny said that, or maybe like it was melting. Sonny wanted him. He was such a fucking wreck of a person, and Sonny wanted him. Specifically him.

"Fag," was what came out of his mouth.

"Shut up," Sonny grumbled, and Joel could tell he was being serious when he said it, so he did shut up. "Crossbreeding is really taboo, okay? And when my parents found out I was dating a human and I wasn’t going to break up with you just to have purebreed kids, they kind of… weren't happy."

Oh.  

Joel felt like such an asshole right now.

"So what did they do?"

"They… They won’t talk to me anymore,” Sonny said, so quiet it was almost a whisper.

Both of them had forgotten the dishes entirely at this point. Joel's hands were still wet, but he didn't really care. He wrapped his arms around the younger boy, pulling him in close and tight in a warm embrace, head pressed up against his chest. Sonny didn't hesitate to reciprocate the hug and lock himself in place there, squeezing Joel like he needed him more than air. 

"I'm scared," Sonny admitted, and fuck- he was shaking. "I know you don't want kids, I know you said that, but- I'm going to die. That's fucking terrifying, Joel."

"You're not going to die," Joel said, his voice grounded and firm. "I wouldn't let you die."

"You promise?"

"Yeah. I promise."

"Thanks…" Sonny said, sniffling just loud enough to be heard and reaching up to push aside his glasses and wipe the beginnings of a tear from his eye. "Ugh. I feel awful for not telling you sooner."

"I wouldn't have believed you sooner," Joel pointed out, pulling Sonny's glasses off completely and- after a moment's hesitation- kissing his forehead. "You sit down and cry it out if you need to.”

“The dishes aren't gonna do themselves,” Sonny muttered, nervously.

“I’ll handle it, Son.” Joel smiled as warmly as he could muster. “It’s just dishes.”

As Joel joined Sonny at the table with his own bowl of mac n cheese- because, of course, Sonny had wanted some when he saw Joel cooking, and what kind of fiancé would Joel be to deny that- he asked, possibly too coarsely, "Is it the heat that's making you eat like that?"

The sound that escaped Sonny was half a laugh and half nerves, but he answered in the affirmative. 

"Yeah. My biological dad told me I'd be super hungry all the time when my heat hit, but I didn't know he meant it'd be this bad."

God, Joel didn't want to think about Sonny's biological parents, knowing he'd caused such a rift between them.

"And he also said I'd be kind of a bitch."

"That checks out."

"Horny all the time."

"Not right now, I hope."

"No," Sonny said, rolling his eyes. "And my pheromones are probably going crazy, but I have no idea if humans are affected by them or not."

"Is that why Meowingtons keeps attacking me when I get near you?"

"He's always liked me!" Sonny giggled.

That was true. Sonny always seemed to have a way with animals that Joel never got. Even his own cat was more than pleased to shower Sonny with affection and completely ignore its owner. Joel always felt kind of weird for getting jealous over a cat, but dammit, Meowingtons was his cat.

Joel didn’t have anything to say to that, though, so he just rolled his eyes and began to eat. The silence was comfortable, but it only lasted a few minutes before Sonny eventually asked, “I’m not too much for you, am I?”

“What?” Joel asked, looking up. Sonny was already done eating. “No. Of course not.”

“Are you sure?” Sonny crossed his arms in front of himself on the table, scrunched up like he was hiding. “I mean… I’m an alien, I have to get pregnant or die, and you didn’t even know until now. I tried to tell you sooner and I chickened out.”

Joel didn’t know what to say to that. It was true, it was a lot to just fucking dump on him after they’d been together for a little over a year and gotten engaged. It would have been nice to know, like… before he’d publicly proposed to the guy, at least. But then that last part caught up to him- that Sonny had tried to tell him, but chickened out. Sonny was scared to tell him. Sure, it’d be hard to tell anyone you were an alien, they’d think you were insane. But they were engaged, Sonny should have been able to tell Joel anything, and he felt like he couldn’t tell him this. That stung.

All Joel could say was, “I’m glad you told me eventually.”