Different Similarities

A night together

Beneath the metal mask laid a hairless being. Black spots and quills adorn his prominent brow bone and temples. His crown was a deep crimson hide that darken into black. From there the strange locs came.

He seemed to have no nose instead the small bridge between his deep set eyes led to a beastly maw. He was lipless, different size fangs and canines adorn the inside of his exposed mouth. It was painful to look at his face; his cheeks seemed to have been cut and pried open. Four small appendages twitch causing the clicking she had begun to associate with him. At the end of each mandible was a large tusk, the bottom two bigger than the top ones. The bone white of his teeth was a stark contrast against the red inside his mouth. He flared his mandibles open in a quiet hiss. Leaning forward she observed how the top smaller appendages seem to tuck themselves closer to his gums before the larger ones covered them. Occasionally they moved and clicked.

Brown eyes traveled back up his face, his round eyes staring at her. They were an alarming yellow; even in the porky light room they seemed to glow. His stature, eerie stillness, spotted skin, and the constant clicking along with his hypnotic eyes reminded her of an animal she obsessively collected pictures of back home.

A cheetah

She exhaled, a quick breath she had taken at his reveal. Slowly she pushed the remaining cans towards him, not breaking eye contact.

"Sorry- here. I just... this whole time, I mean my people back home did not know the existence of other beings..."

Slowly his claws closed on the nearest can. They both continued to stare at one another with caution. With bated breath she watched him raise the can. His head tilted back as his mandibles opened wide and closed against the can as best possible. His throat bobbed as he swallowed the diced green beans. A small growl escaped him as he tossed the can away.

"Even otherworldly beings don't like vegetables, huh?" She smiled nervously before setting her half full water can closer to him. He simply huffed and pushed the water back towards her.

"Now that I know you can understand me... somewhat at least- could you tell me where we are?" She slid the can back over to him.

He simply clicked a response.

"Or where are we going?"

A different set of clicking followed by a huff from the male. When the woman remained silent he tried using the human voyagers' words he had learned. Still he had received no response. He knew earth humans from the past had dozens, maybe hundreds of languages. Hers and her previous companions seem to speak a mixture of English, Spanish and other unknown languages combined. The sky voyagers had a combination of Mandarin, French, and a mix of other languages. All together these humans had created two new languages, hers was one he was unfamiliar with. The helmet worked overtime to translate the few words the database had stored; he had no other way to communicate effectively since his mask was heavily damaged from the crash.

"Ok- you said you could only learn my language by repetition?" He brought his hand up and tilted it side to side. "So-so?" he nodded and took another can. The woman huffed in frustration, "fine, let's try this anyway." He chugged another can: multiple fruits cut in small cubes. After tossing the can he brought the mask in front of his face but did not fully place it on.

"Your two friends, where are they?" The elite peered through the mask awaiting whatever words the mask could interpret. The only word the built- in translation device could grasp was friend. Not much to go off of he started using as much body language as he could. A form of communication that had been proven universal.

His index finger pointed to her then himself before tilting his head, he had set the mask down and stared at her unblinkingly awaiting her answer.

"Us?"