6. Miscommunication

SIX

MISCOMMUNICATION

Faktil quo Laus

Faktil grunted and winced as the little female tied the bandage around his calf. The beast humans called sharks were like a damn metcor of the sea. Granted, sharks didn't have four legs or a furry hide, but their mouths were all fangs like a metcor .

"Sorry." The female grimaced as she briefly made eye contact before glancing away again.

She was skittish around him. Part of that was due to her being here alone for goddess only knew how long. The fact that he was alien to her definitely didn't help with the shyness. She was also clearly anxious about his injuries, which weren't great, though he'd seen much worse on the battlefield. He wanted to express his gratitude but he didn't want to make her even more uncomfortable.

"Thank you," he said as softly as possible, so he didn't scare her as she started cleaning up the supplies. "I deeply appreciate your aid," he added, even though she couldn't understand him .

He touched the bandage, then placed his fist on his chest and nodded his head, in approximation of a bow, hoping the gestures conveyed his sentiment.

Her dark brown eyes focused on him for a moment. He braced himself for a look of fear, but was treated with a lovely, though tentative smile and nod of understanding, before she turned away again. She grabbed her stained shirt along with the pot of dirty wash water and took them outside.

It was brief, but it was definitely a smile. He consoled himself after she looked away yet again. One of these times he was going to get her to hold his gaze for more than just a heartbeat.

Through the front window he watched her toss the dirty water, then hang her shirt over the porch railing. She retrieved her pants from the steps and also hung them up. He grimaced when she came back in.

"You're all wet again," he sighed in frustration, hating the sight, and wishing he wasn't so useless.

Again, she gave him a flicker of a smile as she walked past him to the bed. She pulled the blanket off the foot of the bed and the sheet covering it. She returned to him and was about to cover him with the blanket.

"No." He snagged the sheet instead, since he was warm enough. He gestured to the blanket and then to her.

"Okay." The female wrapped the warm blanket around her bare shoulders.

Faktil nodded. That was better. Although he appreciated the sight of her in the skin-tight green top and briefs, this appeased a deeper need that wanted her to be well and warm.

"I'd offer you the bed, but your legs would hang off the end." She cast him an apologetic frown before kindly draping the sheet over his chest.

The little female scowled at how the sheet left his knees exposed. He couldn't help the chuckle that came out. She looked cute and more than a little amusing with her brow scrunched up in annoyance at the small sheet.

Her gaze darted to meet his, her dark eyes wide and round with surprise. Faktil instantly quieted. He kept forgetting not only did she not understand, but his voice was unsettling to humans.

"Were you laughing at me?" she tentatively asked.

Does she think I'm mocking her? I hope not. He cringed, even as he nodded yes.

"Oh." Her cheeks reddened before she turned away and fled toward the stove.

Torment! Faktil cursed.

"I honestly wonder about my brain sometimes. I just finished saying you wouldn't fit on the bed and then I'm shocked that the sheet doesn't cover you," the little female chuckled and shook her head.

His frown turned into a smile as she cast him a brief amused glance before concentrating on the soup again. She wasn't upset, she was as amused with her reaction as he was. He chuckled, pleased that she wasn't as skittish as he feared. He always believed in the benefits of humor, but not everyone felt the same.

Faktil sighed in relief, then watched as she grabbed a couple bowls from the shelves and dipped out the delicious smelling soup.

"You'll probably need to sit up. Can you manage that?" she asked as she set one bowl next to him.

He nodded and lifted up onto his elbows. He didn't feel dizzy this time, so he sat the rest of the way up.

"Good. Go ahead and eat." She smiled sweetly as she nodded toward his bowl, and his chest warmed .

Rather than grabbing her bowl, she went to the shelves and retrieved another container.

"This is a little bit of coconut milk. Once you're done with the soup, drink this. It will all help wash away some of the sting from the raw taro," she explained.

He nodded in understanding, but refused to start eating without her, and waited until she grabbed her bowl.

"Do you need help?" she asked when she noticed.

He shook his head, picked up his bowl and gestured toward her bowl. She nodded, grabbed her bowl and sat down beside him. He took a big sip from his bowl as she did hers.

"Mmm," he groaned. The warm broth not only soothed his throat and gut, it tasted as delicious as it smelled.

She was mid sip. Over the rim of her bowl, he could see her eyes crinkle at the edges from a smile. It pleased her that he liked her soup. It pleased him that it made her happy enough to gift him with her smile. He was quickly becoming addicted to those cute furtive bursts of joy.

He swiftly finished off the bowl and it subdued the lingering nausea from the toxic vegetable. His starved body soaked up the nutrients. Again, he was reminded about the mystery of how he arrived on Earth, but the problem took a backseat to the relaxing warmth that enveloped him from the inside. His leg was bandaged, he was out of the rain, he had food in his belly, and most importantly had made contact with the adorable female. After the bizarre day fraught with pitfalls, he was finally able to relax.

"More?" The female tapped his bowl.

He nodded and she took his bowl. He smiled at her petite figure wrapped in the blanket as she went to the stove. A big yawn had him gaping and he closed his eyes for a moment.

"Here you go," the female said, suddenly in front of him with the soup .

I must have dozed off. He blinked, slightly surprised.

She smiled with a mix of amusement and sympathy as she put the bowl into his hands. She remained for a moment to assure he had it and his fingers brushed hers. His heart kicked up a beat as he locked eyes with her, but she swiftly pulled back and looked away. Faktil suppressed a disappointed huff as he lifted the soup to his lips.

Can you blame her? You haven't even shared names, Faktil groused while he sipped the soup.

With everything that was going on, it hadn't come up before now. Yet with all that she'd done for him, simply calling her female felt like an insult. He lowered his bowl.

"Faktil." He patted his chest.

Her gaze shifted from her bowl of soup to him.

"Faktil," he repeated.

"Is that your name?" she asked, and he nodded yes.

"Faktil," he said for the third time as she watched his mouth.

"Cocktail? That's not right, is it?" She scowled at herself.

He chuckled and shook his head. That was the human word for a drink.

"F-ak-teel," he repeated the syllables slowly.

"F-ak-til," she grunted, her voice deeper than she could actually pull off.

He let out a snort as he nodded, amused with the adorable way she tried to mimic his voice.

"Faktil. Faktil," she repeated a little more naturally, like she was trying it out in her mouth.

Her lyrical voice saying his name sent a thrill up his spine.

"Aye," he nodded, totally focused on her.

"It's nice to meet you, Faktil. You should drink that coconut milk." She nodded toward the milk .

Faktil sighed. He'd hoped she'd tell him her name, too.

"I'll drink it if you tell me your name," he murmured, not that she'd understand.

"It's Naomi. Now drink the coconut milk." She tapped the polymer container with the white liquid.

"You understand me?" His eyes widened.

"Yes." Naomi's brow furrowed in confusion.

"How?" He tilted his head in confusion. Humans didn't have language implants.

Maybe I've spent enough time around humans that I learned their language. Or perhaps the recent implant upgrade made it possible.

"How is an oni here? Who knows." Naomi shrugged.

The word oni translated and Faktil's eyes widened.

"I am not a mythical evil being." He frowned and shook his head. "I'm what your people call an alien."

Naomi

Alien!? Naomi's brows rose.

Faktil appeared as confused and surprised as she felt. He was serious about being an alien. She panned him, seeing his red skin, long tail, sheer height, and masculine exotic features in an entirely different light. She thought she'd really screwed up somewhere in life to get a visit from an oni. An alien was almost as crazy, but it didn't have the same implications for her soul. Naomi started laughing, filled with a mix of relief and incredulity.

Faktil gaped at her in disbelief. "You aren't bothered by that?"

"No. My people have long believed in you. Heck, we navigated to the islands via the stars. We have several large observatories studying space. I've even seen unexplainable things in the night sky. I'm not losing my mind, and you aren't here to drag me to a torturous afterlife, so being an alien is just fine," she explained, then paused and worriedly looked at him as something occurred to her. "You're not here to abduct me to do creepy experiments, are you?" She scowled.

"No!" He adamantly shook his head. "I crashed off shore."

"Crashed! Oh no!" Her eyes widened. "I'm sorry. That's horrible." Naomi frowned. Faktil was as stranded as she was. In fact, it was probably a miracle he found the island at all.

Faktil nodded as he felt the knot on his head, and she got the feeling that occurred during the crash.

"Oh god, and then you were poisoned and bitten by a shark." Her frown deepened, feeling terrible for him.

"Among other things." He winced as he lay back down.

The comment reminded her of something she noticed earlier. Before Faktil pulled the sheet over him, she'd noticed his skin was darker along his ribs extending onto his back.

I think that was a bruise. He's more hurt than I realized.

That knowledge drove away her curiosity and the numerous questions she had. She wanted to know what Faktil was doing here, where he was from, were there others? But all that could wait.

"I'm sorry about all of that. It is nice to meet you, Faktil, but I think you should get some rest."

"It is also nice to meet you, Naomi. I didn't mean to scare you earlier." Faktil yawned again.

"It's okay. All is forgiven." It truly was a relief to know she wasn't losing her mind or going to hell.

Faktil nodded then his eyes drifted closed. She stood to clean up their dishes, and in that short time he was breathing heavily .

He's fast asleep. She gaped at the exotic man.

She never went to sleep that fast and was slightly jealous. Her brain had to rehash arguments from five years ago with her ex, her to-do list for the next week, and if she should paint her bedroom deep wine or midnight blue when she finally got back home, or a barrage of anything else that was equally pointless. Somewhere amidst the litany of nonsense, she'd pass out, yet it always seemed like the useless diatribe continued in her dreams.

Faktil's face was lax, all but a lingering slight crease between his dark brows. Again, she felt the urge to trace his strong jaw and feel his five-o'clock shadow. His tattooed chest steadily rose and fell beneath the sheet. The way the fabric molded to him, she could still see his firm pecs and stacked abs. Demon or alien, the exotic man was undeniably sexy.

Don't be a creepy perv. He's sleeping and needs your help, she lectured herself.

She stole another quick glance at his very nice physique before forcing herself to look away. Faktil never drank the coconut milk, so she put it up. She swapped his empty soup bowl for the one partially full of water dripping from the ceiling.

I'm going to have to figure out a way to fix that leak. She scowled at the ceiling.

Naomi got everything cleaned up and ready for bed. She added more wood to the stove and left its door open. When she flipped off the overhead lamp, the fire cast just enough light that she was able to avoid Faktil stretched out in the middle of the room. She climbed into bed, but couldn't close her eyes.

There's an alien asleep on my floor. As wild as that was, it strangely didn't compare to the fact that there was finally someone here.

Curled up on her side, she watched Faktil's chest rise and fall. A sense of contentment filled her listening to the cadence of his steady breathing. It brought her back to a simpler time when she shared a room with her sister and didn't have a care in the world. Before she realized it, she'd drifted off.