Different Similarities

Poco a poco

I don't know why I even asked. All I could hear were butchered vowels and stuttered sounds. He had even given me the courtesy of pronouncing his name in his language. My human brain could only hear snarls and clicking. How can one translate a name in a language you do not know?

"Is it ok to give you a nickname for now?"

The male remained seated, his gaze solely on her.

"Nickname? You know my name is Luna" she placed her palm to her chest making him nod in understanding.

"But you can also call me Lulu."

He nodded again and mimicked her darkest memories like a nightmarish parrot.

"LULU, IT HURTS!"

The brunette winced at Jonn-I's broken voice.

"Oh why do I even bother" the female seemed upset again. She turned from me once more to lay on her side facing the wall. There was no yelling or throwing things. I could taste the saltiness of her tears in the air. Her brown eyes were leaking once more. This feature of hers was my least favorite. With the time I've had by her side I've come to notice that humans isolate themselves when they hurt. Like wild animals that tend to hide their pain especially around predators.

It seems as if I've wounded her once more.

I teared off the dry flakes of my chapped lips by biting back tears. I know that it is stupid to keep crying over this. This damn alien did not understand what he did tormented me; stirring my nightmares to invade my daydreams.

"Ooman'de, Un'ah come?"

"No."

"Ooman'de"

"No I don't want to look at you right now," she sniffled.

His weight made her spring filled mattress creak, causing her to dip closer to him. A massive paw lifting her short hair off her face exposing her chewed lips and glossy eyes. Her tan face turned away from the black spotted alien and into the flat pillow.

"Un'ah"

"What?"

"Uh'ah."

"I said what!" The woman hissed, turning her glare to find him leaning closer to her face.

"Uh'uh?"

"... Huh?"

"Ooman'de- Un'ah" his claw poked her collarbone and traced down to the space between her breasts. "Uh'uh" he finished, his appendages curling in on his lipless mouth almost as if to hide it.

"Are you" she paused in disbelief "trying to say my nickname?"

"Uh'uh" he nodded at the new word he learned: nickname.

"It's Lulu." She sat up in front of him wiping away her tears. He remained hunched over, his face almost uncomfortably close.

"Uh'uh" he repeated slowly. From their distance she could see he was unable to pucker his lips for the letter L. Maybe it was because his tongue was surprisingly long or the fact that he had no lips to produce the "Lu" sound in her name.

"As I thought... you can mimic sounds but can't produce the words yourself. Like a bird- do you even have vocal cords? You must if you can say some words..." her hand went to his thick throat. His flinch snapped her out of her rambling, fingertips left her prodding of his windpipe. "Sorry."

"Nickname?" Her voice came from him.

"Lulu?"

He shook his head no.