I tentatively raised my hand.
"It MIGHT be mine...I don't know...I WAS awfully inebriated...but if it turns out to be a pea****, then it belongs to that kid with the multicolored hair and the funny teeth."
I turned to the vampire sitting across from me.
"Actually, I'm from the third horizontal quadrant in the northeast sector of this very galaxy. My larger self is roughly thirty-seven thousand light-years from this planet. Don't worry. I won't turn you to dust...you're the only other immortal that I've met in a LONG time."
I didn't tell him that the last immortal I'd seen was the Ellimist himself, nearly two million years before Earth was formed from space-dust.
I heard a faint hissing sound, which ended in a loud POP as my soda bottle exploded.
I must have forgotten to lower my body temperature back to the accepted norm of this planet, and the Dr. Pepper had boiled in the sealed bottle. Some of the scalding liquid had flown across the table, singing and staining Shanker's dark shirt.
"I'm terribly sorry, Shanker! I haven't had to regulate my surface temperature since I visited Ganymede...I'm sure you can understand. Here, let me get you a napkin."
I reached for a napkin, which immediately burst into cinders. Shanker seemed rather...startled.. .I believe that that was the word for it....
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, and I allowed the heat to dissipate in the form of radiant energy instead of thermal energy. My skin glowed faintly for an instant, and the air began to cool immediately, but the distinct scent of ozone lingered in the air.
I finally managed to hand him a non-flaming napkin, blushing deeply.
"Sorry...."