Cassidy

	You sat next to your firepit, flames crackling in front of you as you watched all the trick or treaters pass by. Your arm was draped around the dainty shoulders of Cassidy, the Grey Alien/Wild West enthusiast. She held her hat in her hands as you twirled one of her antennae with your finger. She shuddered, and it wasn’t from the cold. She’s told you a hundred times how cold her planet was.
	“Anon…” she said. “Not outside...you’re gettin’ me all hot and bothered…” Antennae are a pretty sensual spot, as it happens.
	“Who’s gonna know?” you asked. “They probably think you’re wearing a costume.”
	“I s’pose...but I like wearin' my hat." You chuckled.
	“Alright.” you said, letting go of her antenna. It sprang back up straight, and she put her hat over it. She glanced at you with her big, deep, black eyes and giggled softly.
	“Later though…” she said. “You can bet I’d be fixin’ to have deep antennae massage, if you’d be willin’.”
	“I sure would.” you said. She giggled again.
	“Well, that’s—”
	“Trick-or-treat!” some kids yelled, making Cassidy yelp in start, knocking her hat off. She knelt down for her hat and chuckled.
	“Howdy kids, you startled me!” she said, reaching into the candy bucket and looking up. “Oh…” Behind the two young kids stood Cassidy’s arch enemy, Dave. He was your neighbor. You think he worked for UPS or something, you weren't sure.
	“Hey, alien.” he said.
	“T-that’s extraterrestrial c-confound it!” she said. 'Alien' has been a slur since the First Contact. “...I-I mean Cassidy! My name is Cassidy!”
	“Uh-huh.” he said. “Probe anyone lately?” He looked at you. “Besides him.” You rolled your eyes. Dave was just a bully. He was a skeptic before First Contact, and now, he’s bitter that he was wrong. So he takes it out on poor little Cass, when all she wants is to be a cowgirl.
	“Do they want candy or not?” you asked as Cass looked down, kicking dirt.
	“Yeah.” he said. “But they want you to give it to them. They don’t want some alien disease.” You sighed and gave the kids their candy.
	“C’mon, man.” you said. “You know she doesn’t like being called an alien.”
	“Whatever man.” he said, taking his kids, and turning. You shook your head as he left. Cass groaned.
	“Why’s he always comin’ by just to kick up a row?” she asked angrily. “I just can’t see why he don’t like me!”
	“You can’t be friends with everybody.” you said, checking your watch. “I think it’s about time to pack it in.”
	“I reckon you're right.” she said. She looked back at you with a flirtatious glint in her eye. Her hand stroked the lasso that she kept on her hip, but didn’t know how to use. “You wanna know what I’m fixin’ to do with this?”
	“What’s that?” you asked, mimicking her mimic of an old western accent.
	“I’m gonna lass you…” she said.
	“Yeah?”
	“I’m gonna round you up…”
	“Uh-huh.”
	“I’m gonna wrangle you inside.” You nodded expectantly. She smiled seductively. “And I’m gonna let you give me a good lambastin’.”
	“You lost me.” you said. Her antique slang goes over your head sometimes.
	“It means…” she said, leaning in. “You're gonna give my antennae a good lickin’.” You smiled.
	“You’re getting good at flirting, Cass.” you said.
	“...Ya’ mean it?” she asked, a bashful smile crossing her face. You put your arm around her shoulder as the two of you walked back inside. You looked at her face in the dark.
	“Your freckles are rubbing off.”
	“Oh!” she said, touching her cheeks. “I’ll have to fix those.


----------


	A long pleasurable sigh, cut with some strange clicking, probably of her native tongue, escaped from Cass’s lungs as you twirled both of her antennae between your fingers, as she lay on her back on top of you. Her legs twitched, her hips bucked, her arms grasped at your clothes and the blankets the two of you were underneath. The sighs were eventually completely replaced with the clicks and the glissando moans that apparently denote pleasure on her home planet. You let Cass’s antennae out from your pinching fingers, and she slumped down on top of you. She huffed for a moment.
	“...Gosh…” she said, reaching for her hat. She put it on and rolled over, washing you with the sight of a flushed and flustered smile from beneath the brim of her cowboy hat. “I sure am glad you’re keepin’ me company here on Earth.”
	“I’m glad you decided to stay.” you said, wrapping your arms around her body, dressed only in her favorite antique panties.
	“Well, how could I leave with you here, darlin’?” she said, still catching her breath. You chuckled as she sunk into your embrace. “And y’all humans are so nice, for the most part. Though some of y’all aren’t so hospitable.”
	“Still thinking about Dave?” you asked.
	“Well, not just him, though he does make me as mad as a beaver in a bee’s nest.” You chuckled at her knack for coming up with idioms that don’t make any sense. You think she just takes a random animal and adds ‘in a bee’s nest’. “But there’s all kinds a’ people that don’t take too kindly to us Greys…” She sighed. “Sometimes they make me feel a bit unwelcome...” She smiled. “But then I can just go runnin’ to you to remind me why I stayed here!”
	“Well, you can count on me to tell you that.” you said. She rested her head on your chest.
	“Yeah...and you can count on me snappin’ and pullin’ out ol’ Reap and Sow!” she said, snatching her two trusty cap guns from off of your coffee table. She closed one eye and pretended to shoot them, making “pow pow” sounds and all. She insists on carrying the toy guns in holsters everywhere she goes, no matter how many times police stop you on the street. Not to mention that she used to fire the caps into the air when she got excited, although a night in jail, a few tears, and some comfort from you stopped that habit cold. She put her guns down and snuggled back into your grasp. “But that ain’t too necessary, is it?”
	“Probably not.” you said.
	“Well, I don’t care if they want me here or not.” she said. “So long as you’re here, I ain’t leaving.” You ran your hand along her back. She was anatomically different from a human. You couldn’t feel her spine on her back, only a bit of a divot, but not any vertebrae, which you aren't even sure she has. And her skin was different. It was a lot smoother, almost like velvet, and not to mention the fact that she’s completely hairless. Her body temperature was a bit lower too, but you felt happy knowing that hugging her always made her feel warm.
	“And I won’t ever let anybody make you feel like you don’t belong here.” you said. She smiled and lowered the brim of her hat.
	“Oh, stop…” she said. “You’re makin’ me blush…” She buried her face into your shoulder and hugged her arms around you. You kissed her cheek, making her giggle a bit, tightened your grip around her, and there, the two of you fell asleep.