Chapter 6: Start of the Year
Time: January 2011. Location NYC
Felix learned that human lives were complicated with the months he spent on Earth. In his entire life, this was the first time where there were no orders for him to follow, no battles to be won, and no war to be fought. Instead, he spent his days with mundane tasks of a "normal" human and learning about the species through the internet, books, and conversations with random strangers in Central Park.
To be frank, this method of living was foreign to Felix. He was no stranger to hiding. He spent years avoiding the Imperial Regime but living in the open while pretending to be one of the humans was a unique experience.
Viltrumites tended to bulldoze into whatever foreign planets they were sent to. However, Thaedus had believed differently. The man spent his time mingling with other species and lived amongst them in contrast to Imperialist directives and regulations. Felix had first thought that it was a ridiculous idea; however, he was now using a similar method on Earth, and it was perplexing.
Life as a human was exhausting at times. Things like transportation were incredibly inefficient to Felix, but he had accepted the usage of public and private transport. It reminded him of the worst model of Viltrumite's interstellar spacecraft, and yet humans needed to use them for daily needs.
Felix sat on a rusted metallic bench in Central Park, watching the varied groups of people go by in joy post-New-Year festivities. There were, of course, many positive things that he learned from the humans. Despite the constant chaos in their lives, they found comfort in the little things, which he adopted to his day-to-day schedule.
One would be surprised by how much you can learn from just watching people going about with their lives. By paying attention to anything between what people were wearing, how they interacted with others, how they walked and what kind of lifestyles they had. Felix studied the social situations of body language as well as facial expressions and tones. On some fundamental level, it helped the Viltrumite in finding the pulse of the city better than any books could ever teach him.
The late winter wind brushed past Felix's dark long coat. He did not need to shield himself from the cold due to his physiology, but there was a necessity to blend in with the New Yorkers. In spite of the snowy scenery, the park reminded him of home. On Viltrum, the ground was always adorned with beautiful plant life for those who could afford the time to leisurely walk around. It was a luxury for few, and Felix was not one of those lucky ones. With his duties for the Empire and then for the Rebellion, he had to constantly commit time and resources to his responsibilities. It was different now. He had an abundance amount of time to do as he pleased when he was not working on his manuscripts.
"Never thought I'll see an alien brooding in the middle of Central Park," Coulson walked up to Felix with the afternoon light shining brightly on his face.
Felix responded to the agent with, "Never thought SHIELD would be so brazen with my monitoring."
"I'm not here on SHIELD business. Had something close by, so I thought I drop in for a second. May I?" Coulson pointed at the empty seat next to Felix.
"Help yourself." He replied.
The agent sat down on the cold metal. Both of them examined each others' finely crafted clothing from Kingsman and nodded to each other. "I heard you've been here a lot. Every day, in fact, at exactly 5 PM."
"It helps me understand humans better," Felix said with his eyes returning to the walking mass.
"Did you do anything fun for Christmas and New Year?"
"I had expected you to know that already with your organization constantly watching over my every move."
"Just making conversations. Like I said, it's my time off right now."
"I enjoyed your celebrations. Although I had not expected your holidays to be so…commercialized."
"Sounds like you're getting used to living amongst us."
Felix gave the agent a nod and continued his surveying. The two sat there in silence until Felix continued their conversation, "Tell me, your people traverse around the world without a given purpose. How do you live with such aimlessness?"
The question took Phil Coulson aback by surprise. The alien was many things, but talkative was not one of his usual traits. Felix was asking him something that he was not prepared for. The man thought to himself and replied, "Well, we struggle to find purpose our entire life. Some find them early and pursue their ends to the best of their abilities. Some accepted religion and beliefs. Others may never find one, so their purpose is to discover a purpose. I personally believe that you find purpose by taking actions. You don't find it through thinking too much."
Felix nodded again to Coulson's answer. Another new concept that he had to work through. Coulson's belief provided much of what the alien had learned over the past few months.
"I would like to ask you a question in return. How does "purpose" operate on Viltrum?" Coulson questioned to which Felix responded with "Our tasks and caste are assigned at birth. I was born from a line of warriors and so naturally I became one. Simple as that. There was no need to find myself or my purpose."
"Is that so? And yet you are now an author-in-the-making. I don't see you doing a lot of fighting," Coulson said with a slight grin plastered on his face.
"It's a means to an end," Felix grunted, not willing to give the agent the satisfaction.
Coulson chimed with pride, "But I have to assume that you like your life on Earth so far."
"It is new and different. There are many things that I dislike and many that I like."
"I can't be certain about all the other species in the cosmos but that's what it means to be human. Constantly shifting between the negatives and the positives." Coulson claimed.
What the man said gave Felix a lot to think about. He wanted to understand how humans viewed their world and their place in the grand universe. With the limited time he spent in the U.S, he had only seen one side of the equation. There was a desire in Felix to see the other perspectives that were out there.
…
Time: January 2012. Location NYC
"...and may the dread wolf takes you," Felix ended his sentence then gently closed the book. The audience stood up from their seats and clapped their hands together in a mismatching rhythm.
"I am grateful for all of you coming to support me. That was the end of the first chapter in my book, The Age of Basilisks. That concluded the read-out for this book launch event. Please enjoy the food that we have prepared for you." The people at Lancaster Print and Publication had thoroughly prepared his script for the opening night.
Thanks to their online marketing, Felix gained somewhat of a fan base even before his books were released to the market. The people online had dubbed him a "hunky daddy," which he was pretty taken aback by when he looked it up on the internet. Human entertainments were far more advanced than what they had on Viltrum.
The venue for the event was in a library, very poetic in a way since when he first arrived in NYC, Felix went to a similar location to find his barring. After the reading, people came up to him and asked loads of questions about the two books he was releasing. Social media was truly a powerful tool. Amongst the varied groups of humans, he saw a familiar sight of a red-haired woman and her nephew.
"I'm glad you came," Felix trailed towards her with hurried steps and greeted the woman.
"We kind of sneaked in halfway. I can't miss such a big day."
"Troubles at work?"
"It's a good thing actually. Last-minute batch of donations that needed to be sorted out. Nothing too crazy. Enough about me though. Congratulations!" May greeted back at the mustache Viltrumite.
Felix replied, "I appreciate you coming here." He turned to the young boy and continued," I hope you find the event satisfactory, Peter."
"Congratulation, mister!" Peter wiped his eyes as a small yawn escaped from his mouth. The event took place at night, and with the reading for his books, the release party had gone on for an hour or two.
"It's still a school night, so we might have to soon." May chimed in. Her hand caressed the boy's hair.
"I want to stay longer, Aunt May." Peter resisted.
"That is a shame, but I understand education is important for a boy of your age," Felix explained to Peter, and the future spiderman reluctantly nodded.
"Haha, I've tried to tell him that many times. Believe me. He better be thankful when he grows up." May chuckled at her own comment.
"He will. I have no doubt that he knows how amazing his aunt is." Felix added with gentleness in his words.
"Thank you. Truly." A slight shiver of vulnerability in her voice came to surprise both of them. It had been a journey for May throughout the years. With the passing of Ben, she had to take care of Peter all by herself. May toughened herself enough for the both of them, and she believed that there was no need for anyone else to break down that wall. However, there were cracks wiggling their ways through her defenses now. She wasn't sure if she was ready for that.
Their gaze met each other in a moment of stillness, but they quickly broke it off. Felix was the first to sever the silence between them, "How did you get here?"
"I took the subway, my car broke down earlier in the week, so it's still in the shop."
"I'm sorry to hear that. But, please, let me drive you back. You took your time to come here after all." The Viltrumite had learned how to drive the primitive vehicle that humans used for transportation. It added some comfort for Felix when he traveled inside the city despite his ire for the thing.
"Are you sure? You still have an event going on." May gestured towards the surrounding area.
Felix took a look at his manager, Jay Petal. The man gave a questioning raised eyebrow back to him. "Yea, it'll be fine," Felix mouthed.
…
The two spent time talking about Peter and May's work on the car ride back. May and Peter sat at the back of his car with the ladder having his head on his aunt's laps. Peter was already millions of miles away in dreamland. While there were some more moments of silence between them, Felix enjoyed the conversation they had.
"...Yea, so that's why I don't take the subway after 1 AM anymore. Oh, we're here." May was immersed in her story but then she noticed their arrival.
"So it seems."
Either of them wanted to leave, yet they were both unsure of whether or not they could take the step forward.
"Thank you for the ride. I'll head back up with Peter now." May said her piece.
"Do you need any help bringing him up?"
"That's alright. I'm pretty used to this. He runs out of energy all the time." May replied.
Felix was not blind. He could see what was slowly developing between them, but he could not let it continue any further. He had lived thousands of years, and he would live thousands more. A life span of a human was incomparable to one of a Viltrumite. He did not want to push May into something like that, especially since she still thought of him as a regular human.
Felix bid his farewell, "Have a good night. Tell Peter I said goodbye."
"You too. Drive safe!" She replied, heading into her apartment complex.
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OneYellowBoi
OneYellowBoi The additional chapter was added for a clearer story later on.
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