"Once you get over how different he looks, he starts looking quite...appealing." said Alissa thoughtfully, "I've never seen anyone like him before,"

"I doubt you will find very many like him," said Randy. Charles was, after all, the last of the blorknogs to be sent from his home planet to Earth--and there hadn't been a great many before him. Long before Schickelgrubers had decided to settle, blorknogs had been sent to Earth during different time periods to test both their adaptability and that of the humans living alongside them. Their offspring appeared more and more Earthly with every generation that passed, and thus most blorknogs, already rare among humans, were hardly distinguishable from humans in appearance. It was only those of pure blood like Charles who stood out greatly, and those were quite scarce.

"No, and it's almost a shame, he's downright exotic in a way," said Alissa.

"I hadn't thought of it that way," said Randy, "but I suppose one could say that."

Alissa grinned at him, "I thought the same thing about you when I first saw you...something about you just looks different,"

"You mean aside from my size?" Randy questioned.

"Well your features to in a way, you're face has a different sort of cast to it," she remarked.

Randy nodded. "You always were very observant. I do have some foreign ancestry. My father was very dark-skinned and my mother quite fair, each from a different end of the continent."

Alissa nodded, "That make sense," she said, "What of Charles though? Where oh where did he get such a...mane,"

Randy smiled. That certainly was the word for it. "I couldn't tell you," he replied. It was technically true, though not because he didn't know the answer.

"And something else I've noticed, you don't have a single hair on your body...why is that?" asked Alissa.

"I... suppose I am a bit strangely-fashioned," said Randy.

"That's not an answer," said Alissa with a crooked smile, "I've never known a single human to be completely hairless,"

"Are you implying that I am not a human now?" Randy teased.

Alissa was silent for a moment as she regarded him, "Would that be so silly?" she asked softly.

He frowned at her. "What else would I be?"

"I wouldn't know," she replied.

"Then best to put such ideas out of your head," Randy snorted. "If a turtle can have two heads, a human can be devoid of hair."

Alissa looked crestfallen and a little ashamed, "I suppose your right....I'm not a child anymore, I shouldn't let my imagination get the better of me. I'm sorry,"

"No harm done," Randy said gently. "...May I tell you a secret?"

Alissa seemed slightly cheered, "Yes?" she leaned closer to listen.

"This condition affects more than just my body," Randy whispered, glancing about to make sure that no one else would see or hear.

Alissa gave him a questioning look then reached up to touch his hair, "A wig?" she inquired.

He nodded. "But stranger still..." He pulled her aside and lifted the wig so that she could see the thick brown fuzz adorning only the left half of his head.

Alissa's eyes widened as she ran her hand over the patch of fuzz, "It's so soft and fine...not like regular hair at all, were you sick as a child and that's why it only grows like this? No...you can't have been sickly, look how large and hardy you are," she lapsed into silence, still stroking his head curiously.

"It would make sense that whatever leaves me lacking in hair would also affect what hair I do have," Randy reasoned with a shrug as he allowed her to touch and inspect his head. If he couldn't indulge her imagination, he could at least offer her something of interest.

She ran her hand over his scalp one last time before giving him a kiss and drawing away, "Thank you for sharing with me," she said.

"It is nice to do so," he replied with a smile. "I find hiding too much to be... uncomfortable. Like the wig."

Alissa nodded, "I can imagine, well...I don't love you any less for your lack of hair," she said teasingly.

He beamed. "Good, as I intend to remove that wig as often as possible."

"Well when we're together you can just be free to be yourself," she said, "And I will leave my layers and corsets behind as well,"

"I think I shall enjoy this arrangement." Randy replaced the wig and made sure it was seamlessly adjusted before they headed back indoors.

A few months passed, Winston came and went as usual and Alissa and Randy continued their affair, one day however Alissa came to Randy with dire news, "On my twenty first birthday Winston and I are to be married, that's less than four years away," she said glumly.

"I am sorry to hear it," said Randy. "But you will still have me here."

Alissa wrapped her arms around him, "Thank the lord for that," she said.

He smiled and gave her a kiss. "I hope that I can keep things from being too awful for you."

"I know you will, maybe Winston won't live to see my twenty-first birthday." she said hopefully.