It was a warm, summer day. A perfectly ordinary day, but never the less pleasant. Arthur Dent awoke that morning, expecting it to be a morning like every other. He climbed out of his colorful pajamas and dressed himself in his most proper suit and tie. He walked into his kitchen to start a pot of boiling water for tea, but not before stopping to fuss with his hair in the mirror. He needed to be flawless if he wanted to get the job he wanted. He patted down a lack of hair that insisted on sticking up. Better, he decided and continued on to make his tea.

Mr. Dent sat down at his breakfast table and began his daily ritual of reading the newspaper's current events. To Arthur, this was his favorite part of the day. It was oddly comforting, this time left alone to himself, his tea, and his paper.

Absorbed in reading the front cover article, Arthur Dent didn't even notice Ford Prefect wander into his yard. Now, Arthur and Ford hadn't yet met, so when Arthur finally noticed Ford, he was startled. Arthur stormed out onto his front porch.

"You get out of here, now, you hear?" Arthur shouted. "You get off of my property!" Not at all startled, Ford slowly looked up at Arthur.

"Good morning," he said. "Is this house yours? It's quite nice looking."

"Well, uhm… ah, yes, it is," Arthur stuttered. He was quite taken aback by Ford's politeness. Arthur had encountered more than enough trespassers and none had been any other than the rudest people he had had the misfortune to come across. "Thank you. Good morning."

"You haven't happened to spot any spaceships around here, have you?" Ford asked. If Arthur was at all uncertain of Ford's sanity, he decided that it was definitely in question now.

"Spaceships?" Arthur asked.

"Well, green ones more specifically."

"Is that so? Well, then would you kindly return to your own place of residence and leave me alone in mine?"

"You see, that's the problem. I'm quite a ways away from there and am afraid I have lost my way."

Arthur was mortified to hear himself say, "Well then in that case, you'll have to come inside for a bit of tea. I just started boiling up a new pot of water."

"Ford," the stranger said. "Ford Prefect."

"What?" Arthur said.

"That's my name; Ford Prefect."

"What kind of name is Ford Prefect?"

"Mine."

"Well, it's certainly… unusual."

"Is it?"

"I mean, you're the first person I've met who was named after a car." Arthur poured Ford a cup of tea. "I hope you don't mind, but all I have left is Earl Grey and I've been told by most people that they find it terribly bland."

Arthur did not hear an answer and turned his head to see Ford staring silently at him. There was something about this strange man that made Arthur's eyes water. Maybe it was because he seemed not to blink that often.

"What?!" Arthur demanded.

"I believe it is customary for you to introduce yourself," Ford said quite simply.

"Dear me," Arthur replied. "I can't believe I had almost forgotten. The name's Dent. Arthur Dent."

"Thank you, Dentarthurdent," Ford said.

"You can just call me Arthur." Ford reached for a cup of tea and took a sip.

"It's good," Ford remarked, smiling. He hadn't expected plant-flavored water to taste that delicious.

"I'm glad you like it," Arthur said. "In my opinion, it's the best tea that's here on Earth." He took a sip. "You know what, Ford? You're not such a strange guy after all. How about we go out for a drink some night?"

Ford smiled. His first day on Earth and he had already begun to make friends, but if drinking together was what the humans called fun, he didn't want to have to stay here for longer than he had to.

Earth, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says: Harmless.

A/N: Please, please, please review and let me know how I did! I'm always wanting to better my writing, so I'll love you forever if you give me any constructive criticism :3