Smalls.

We call him Wally, Smally, Smalls, Walt, and very, very rarely, Walter. Usually when we're telling someone else about him.

He told me a story of how his dad, Walt Sr. (AKA Richard Alpert in some circles), punched a guy in the face once for calling him Wally. But you can tell that deep down, he loves that we've nicknamed him. He is the king of nicknames, I tell him. He warns us that if anyone else starts to call him Smally or Smalls, he's not going to take it from them. It's our nickname for him - nobody else's.

So I'm warning you now. He had a mean gleam in his eye.

The first time I met Walt was the night we went to see Wanted. The movie was horrible, save a few really cool scenes and Angelina Jolie's character's dedication. 6 of us crammed into Gui's Explorer, with someone being stuck in the backseat. Gui's new friend, Walt, shows up to the movie late, and is down a few rows. I'm sitting beside Gui, and he and Walter are tossing comments back and forth down the stairs during the movie.

We walk out to the parking lot, and decide to go back to the house to chill out for a bit. Walt pulls up behind Gui's car to see what the plan is and to follow Gui back to our house. I size him up through the driver's side window, then graciously invite myself into his car so that I don't have to cram into the trunk of Gui's car.

It was only a 10 minute car ride from the movies to our house, if that. I had never even set eyes on Walt before this night, but in that 10 minutes, we had an INTENSE conversation.

I got out of the car wondering what happened and how that developed so quickly. I was kind of shocked by it, I think.

Fast forward several months later, to Walt's birthday in October. Walt and I were associates through Status and he was in our Praxis, so we saw each other regularly. Even so, we didn't really know each other very well.

I found out at Praxis that his birthday was the following night - Friday night. I asked him what he was doing and he gave some nonchalant answer like, "Just something casual, maybe with the family."

Problem? I love birthdays. His plan sounded boring. I love celebrating birthdays. A LOT. (See: Kristin Wiig in surprise birthday video SNL skit). I talked him into going 80s dancing at Backbooth instead. 1) We love dancing. 2) We love 80s dancing. 3) We love birthdays. 4) Why not? 5) Photo Booth.

'Nuff said.

He needed a bit of prodding, but he came out the next night, with his familial entourage.

I don't know if you know Walt's family, but they are pretty rad. Especially at 80s night. They know all the words to every 80s song, even obscure ones. I asked him about it once and his response? "Misspent youth."

Thus began my friendship with Walt. He still teases me sometime about being the 'random girl who threw him an awesome birthday party' and I laugh about it. It just made sense to me.

Fast Forward to Australia.

Walt accompanying us on this trip was entirely unexpected and supremely impromptu. The kid booked his ticket long before he had a visa, or even a passport, and only 2 days after we jokingly proposed the idea to him over steak.

Little did we know that rule #5 would become: When in doubt, eat steak.

Melissa and I did a few 'trial run' short trips within the US to determine our compatibility before traveling abroad for up to a year in a foreign country. DC, Seattle, and NYC showed us that we could get along beautifully for short periods of time.

We didn't have time to do this with Smalls, so lucky for us, he's a great travel companion.

I feel that I should add a tiny snippet of our going away party here: Before we left, we spoke to Precious Batmanly (aka Gary, Walt's best friend) and Richard Alpert (aka Walt Sr, Walt's Dad) about what we needed to know about Walter before we left the states. They gave us great advice on Fences and Eyebrows; without this information, we would be much further behind than we are now.

Walt is very unique. He has this engaging, and sometimes ridiculous, bubbly personality. It's huge, this character of his. He is constantly joking around and nicknaming and quoting movies (he and Mel can do this for hours on end). However, you can have an utterly serious, intense, thought-provoking conversation with him about anything from Quantum Physics to Marriage to Cynicism to Relationships. He said earlier today, that without the 20% of sincere, heartfelt conversation, the remaining 80% would be exhausting.

Strange how that works.

We've only been together for about 2 weeks (maybe a week and a half?) but I feel like we've been good friends forever. It's an odd combination, the three of us, and sometimes everybody gets on my damn nerves. Even me. But with enough music, reflection, reading, or quiet, I return to my deep appreciation of these two souls.

I guess, too, that having two people who can see through me rather easily, one of which is very like me internally and the other who is simply intuitive, is unnerving. Vulnerability was never my strong suit, despite my common claim to be extremely open and have a short fence (shrubs?). Sometimes, I want to hide things from even myself, so it's difficult to be challenged in such a manner.

As this trip progresses, I wonder how our friendships also will. I pray and hope that they strengthen, turning into deeper levels of appreciation, intimacy, and understanding, while maintaining their ease and flexibility. But I'm also realistic in realizing that we are all people and we are all going to have issues with each other. I get on their nerves and they get on mine. I want to be alone sometimes and so do they.

But Smalls, Pudge, and Beaves are sticking to rule #6: Always stay friends, no matter what.

Thanks, pretty eye guy; we appreciate your wisdom.

Stay tuned for the next installment: Why Melissa is Amazing.