Feelin' it Out

It was a nice day on Gabriel's first day after arriving at the Manta Carlos Islands. Because he assumed the form and role of what people here call a college student he decided to check out the place where he will be able to learn about Earth, humanity but first and foremost the secrets of the universe that would help unveil the mystery that he himself is.

Unfortunately, he arrived at night so there was nobody there and the place was locked. Knowing that humans are very inactive at night, the fact that he doesn't need nor want to sleep and also because at the moment the only place on the island that peaked his interest was Starlight Academy he decided to just stay near and use his shapeshifting ability to get higher and just observe the academy from afar just like he used to do with all the other parts of the planet not that long ago.

Gabriel just stayed in the sky for hours and put together a detailed map of everything he could see through the windows of the academy and before he realized the sun started coming up and the gates were opened to the courtyard. Even though there was no one there yet he decided to enter, use his shapeshifting again and just wait for the people.

What he saw was more amazing than he ever thought but that didn't really faze him, it was just more information. Nobody noticed him at all but he was fine with that and just continued observing the strange people around him until a not so strange girl walked up to him. Realizing that being sat on is very uncomfortable but not wanting to surprise the girl too much he used the remaining cosmic matter that makes up his body and his shapeshifting to talk to her.

And just like that the black mist came out of the bench and formed Gabriels normal human form next to Bridget, though because he reached his size limit his human body looked a bit smaller than usual.

"Good morning! My human name is Gabriel, Gabriel Stars and I've never really seen it in this world so I don't if it's rude or not for me to ask but could you please not sit on me? I mean I was expecting this to happen and I would have let people do it while I was observing everyone here but I've never really felt any kind of touch or anything like that so I didn't know it would be this uncomfortable."

As the girl, Gabriel just talked to jumped off of him the bench turned into the same black mist that just erupted from it not that long ago and it fused with his human part of the body and with that he was able to go back to his real size.
"Thank you, I..." Gabriel's thank you was interrupted by the unusual state the girl was in. He knew that it was embarrassment or something similar but he has never seen it from so close.

After a few seconds of just staring at her, Gabriel realized that he is among the humans now so he should say something and stop quietly analyzing everything, at least for now.

"Don't be sorry, I'm entirely at fault here for overestimating my physical strength, it seems like something made out of cosmic matter is weak as a kitten as you humans say." As he says it he holds out his hand to help her get up while trying to smile but it ends up looking really forced and awkward.

After helping the girl up from the ground she said something that Gabriel found very strange.
"Not human?" as he said it he quickly examined her appearance for anything strange he missed when seeing her for the first time while she introduced herself.
"Pardon my mistake Bridget, you look strikingly similar to humans and I don't know much about the kind of people that lives here, I've just arrived on the planet a few days ago."
"From your reaction, I would assume you've never seen a creature like me." Gabriel says this like it should be natural that people here turn into benches and just watch others and only people that don't know what a shapeshifter is would find it weird.
"I am an entity from space made of cosmic matter that is held together by my consciousness and I can freely shape that matter."

After explaining himself Gabriel demonstrates his power by turning back his right hand into his original form of a black mist and then into the leg of the bench he was a minute ago. Then he realizes that this is his first chance to learn about the people of this island and how to interact with them.

"You want to be friends Bridget?" Not realizing how weird he sounds Gabriel holds out his hand that is still that of a bench for a handshake, then realizing his mistake he turns back the bench leg into a human hand.

Hearing Bridgets answer and failing to see how awkward the mood is for a moment, Gabriel does the same awkward smile he did before while shaking her hand. But as Bridget continues and talks about how friendships are supposed to be built up, Gabriel starts thinking on how he could accomplish that while just looking vacantly at the ground with a very serious expression on his face.

"So we are not friends yet? It seems like I have overestimated myself yet again. And I was so confident in my knowledge." As he says that with a bit of confusion in his voice he looks up at Bridget again. After thinking he reached the conclusion that his first impression was not good enough.

"To be honest you are the first earthling I am having proper interactions with." Says Gabriel trying to explain his strange behavior before making more mistakes and scaring away Bridget while also trying to start a conversation to build friendship between the two of them just like Bridget told him just now. "You know I used to live there..." Gabriel stops for half a second and looks up to the sky. "... in space, orbiting Earth alone with my though. I don't know how much time I spent there but I became aware of my existence around 60 years ago." Not being able to interact with anyone or anything might sound like a very sad fate but Gabriel didn't know what sadness is or what it is like to talk to other people. Simply put he was satisfied with his life because that was the only way he knew how to live.

"It wasn't all that bad though, from there I could see almost anything on the surface of this planet, the only exception was this island right here because of all its magical protections, that's why I decided to start my life on Earth here."
As he finishes what was basically his life story Gabriel looks at Bridget with a confidence thinking he did perfectly what she just told him but also with a bit of expectant look waiting for her reaction on how well he did exactly with the whole building friendship thing.

Gabriel's confident look turned into a very satisfied one for a moment's notice but then it quickly turned normal again and then he looked at the ground and started thinking again just like he did before. That happened because of Bridget's little pause in her last sentence before she told him about getting coffee. Because of that, he realized that he made another mistake and has a lot more to learn before interacting with others like a normal human being. This started a big train of thought for him and he started to contemplate that he should just turn down the offer, quit trying to make friends and talking to people and just go back to observing people until he feels ready.

But after that, he realized that his reason for being here is because he is seeking knowledge he couldn't get from just observing everything. What he's looking for might not include drinking coffee and building up a friendship with people that sit on him but he wanted to push through whatever situation he comes across despite his mistakes. How would he be able to find the place he came from and his people if they exist when talking to a girl is enough to scare him off and make him go back to hiding? He wanted to prove it to himself that he will not fail when the time comes.

"I don't know what coffee is like, I've never had it but I would like to try it." Says Gabriel as he looks up from the ground with a less awkward but still strange smile.