"Well I'm sure your purple alligator shoes didn't help any," Sam argued, picking himself up off the bench to slowly approach the girl. Then he sat down beside her. Not too close. He didn't want to frighten her anymore than he already had. Just close enough to show that he wanted to help her.
"You don't like my shoes?" Al blinked. "I'll have you know these are very in style right now. Not that you would know or anything, but they are. Tina is going to be very impressed. Besides, it's not like I'm going to have them on for very long. Wink, wink."
Sam just sighed and, for the moment, tried to ignore his friend who wasn't being very helpful.
"I'm sorry I lied to you, Annie. But this is a new place to me and I'm very confused. You see, I'm a time traveler who--"
"Sam! Prime directive! You can't be giving away classified information! Oh god, Ziggy's going crazy right now."
Al smacked his handlink.
Sam continued regardless of the hologram's discontent.
"--who leaps into the bodies of other people throughout time to fix something that went wrong in their lives. And Al? Al helps me. He's from my time, making sure that everything goes well. That's why you can't touch him. He's a hologram."
Sam didn't know if the girl would understand. He suddenly was reminded of Jimmy and the thought made him smile. He'd loved Jimmy, being Jimmy, and showing the world that everyone could be important no matter what their physical or mental state. Jimmy had been a very important leap to both him and Al. Even if Al wouldn't admit it.
"I also do showtunes," Al said with more than just a little bit of snark.
"You surprised us just a little," Sam continued. "Most people can't see us. Do you understand?"