Page 11 of My Alien Angel (Supernova Casanovas #6)

Omni

I knew touching Fin’s figurines was a mistake.

Fuck, I knew it! I just wanted to do something nice for her since she looked so sad and exhausted after coming home from her employment, and all the advertisements where dining was included displayed various blooming plants on the table.

Since I hadn’t found any plants in Fin’s domicile and I wasn’t supposed to leave it, not that I could see any suitable plant life from the window anyway, I grabbed the creepy smiling tree creature instead, hoping it might make her smile too.

I should have gone with my initial gut feeling and not touched anything she didn’t explicitly allow me to touch, especially after the way she’d reacted to the tentacle images yesterday.

Now I’ve fucked up. Fin looks like she’s about to start crying.

She’ll kick me out, and I haven’t got the slightest clue about what I’m going to do without her help.

I can read the letters now and some shorter words like cat and dog, which are apparently popular Earth pets, but it’s not enough to find my footing in this world.

Especially since the first person other than Fin to see me and my wings is likely to summon the authorities to arrest me, as evidenced by a frightening movie I watched on TV last night.

The things the military did to that poor alien will haunt me forever.

Worrying about my own predicament isn’t the main reason I feel terrible, though.

I wanted to do something nice for Fin, to thank her for being so extremely patient and gracious.

Instead, I’ve made her sad and the guilt from it is clawing at my chest so hard it physically hurts.

“Sorry,” I blurt out, panic surging when I see a tear roll down her cheek.

“Many, many sorry.” Fuck, I sound like an idiot even to myself.

Gently grabbing the tiny tree, I intend to put it back on the shelf and never touch it again but Fin surprises me by placing a hand on my forearm to stop me.

“It’s okay.” Looking up at me, she smiles through her tears.

“I should be the one apologizing. I had a terrible day and this is all so sweet and I can’t even remember the last time someone did something so nice for me so…

yeah, I’m sorry. I should be thanking you, not dissolving into tears like a blubbering idiot. ”

Winds, humans truly are useless dicks to each other if she considers someone setting a table for her something extra.

Relieved she doesn’t seem to be angry with me, I put the tree man back on the table and slowly raise my hands to cup her cheeks, giving her plenty of time to move away if she’s uncomfortable.

Just like last night, she doesn’t, watching with wide eyes and slightly parted lips, ones I long to taste.

I won’t, because she doesn’t know who and what I am and it wouldn’t be fair to her but, damn, it’s difficult to hold back.

Gently wiping her tears away with my thumbs, I search for something to say but come up empty, and not just because I’m lacking in her language.

An emotional dam explodes from Fin as she throws her arms around me, wrapping them tightly around my middle as she starts to sob audibly, her cheek resting against my heart.

She cries, then apologizes, then cries some more.

Holding her close with one arm, I caress her hair with the other.

I should probably say or do something, but I’m at a loss as to what that something should be.

Surprisingly, my silence proves to be the best response since Fin soon stops crying and looks up at me with a bashful smile.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cry all over you, but…

thank you for letting me. I guess I just needed to cry for a bit. I should be fine now.”

It seems like females are a mystery no matter the species. “You welcome,” I say as if I actually did anything to warrant her thanking me, then correct myself, “You are welcome.”

Staring up at me in earnest, Fin’s tear-stained smile is without fail, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen as she congratulates me, “Good job! You really are a fast learner.” My cheeks feel like they’re burning as I smile in reaction to her praise.

As much as I’ve learned today, it’s not going as fast as I’d like. Still, spending the day watching television and studying the human alphabet has helped immensely. I gesture at the table, a little worried it will make her start crying again. “Eat food?”

“Yeah, we can eat now. I’m starving actually, and you must be too.”

“Yes.” The wing is healing nicely, but the speed is outweighed by the immense need to devour any and every bit of food in sight.

Normally when using the healing accelerants, patients need to receive regular vitamin shots and eat a larger than normal intake of calorie dense food than usual, but I can’t exactly do any of that here.

Nor do I have the words to explain to Fin that I’m not usually this hungry all of the time.

Except when it comes to sweets. I could eat sweet pastries every minute of every day and never get sick of them.

Winds, what I wouldn’t give for a box of warpberry fritters.

The food Fin brought home isn’t sweet but it’s still delicious.

I do my best to eat slowly, but my plate is still empty long before Fin has finished even half of her portion.

Chuckling, she points to the unopened boxes.

“I brought more, feel free to have seconds. I figured one portion wouldn’t be enough for your healthy appetite. ”

Normally it would be but right now, I gratefully accept Fin’s offer.

This dish proves much more challenging, however, as the long noodle-like things keep slipping from my utensil.

When a few fall back onto the plate and spray me with red sauce, Fin laughs.

“I take it, you’ve never had spaghetti before. ”

“No,” I growl as I poke at the offending noodles, trying to figure out the best way to transport them to my mouth without getting the red sauce everywhere.

I’m tempted to just grab them with my fingers, but I doubt that’s the correct way to eat them and I don’t want Fin to think I’m a complete barbarian.

Chuckling, Fin rounds the table, setting one hand on my shoulder for balance as she leans down beside me.

Taking the pointy utensil from my hand, she stabs a few of the noodles, then rotates the utensil until the noodles are wrapped around it with no chance of escape.

It’s damn brilliant, if you ask me. Why didn’t I think of that?

“There,” she says as she hands me the utensil.

“It’s the least messy way to eat spaghetti, but fair warning, I still end up with sauce all over my clothes half of the time, so don’t worry if you get a little messy. ”

She’s so sweet as she smiles at me that I don’t even mind that this is probably something she’d say to a child learning how to eat on their own. “Thank you, Infinity,” I say, flashing her a smile of my own.

Fin rolls her eyes. “I’ve never really liked my full name but…

I have to admit I kinda like it when you say it.

I mean, in a strictly platonic way. Not in, like, a romantic way or anything.

Just, uh, fuck, I’ll just shut up.” Rubbing her face as if trying to remove the blush creeping over her cheeks, Fin shuffles back to her seat, eyes fixated on her plate.

Oh Winds. I’m flirting with the girl, which is the exact opposite of what I’d decided to do, but I can’t seem to help myself. She’s so winds-damned cute when she blushes.

Without really knowing why, I decide to share something I haven’t shared with my crew mates. “Name no Omni,” I say, well aware that it’s not the right way to say it but hoping she’ll get the meaning.

Finally raising her head, Fin looks at me curiously. “I figured it’s probably a cosplay name, though I’ve never heard of such a character. Will you tell me your real name?”

“Is Ka’Omnireth.” It sounds rougher in Quintran language and reminds me of how my mother would use it whenever she was mad at me, which was often.

“Oh. That’s…a mouthful.” Fin chuckles. “Is it a common name where you’re from?”

“Yes and no.” If she were a Quintran, she’d immediately know what my name means.

She would have probably heard of me, too.

Fortunately, Fin is human, so she has no idea.

Deciding that a change of subject would be for the best, I ask, “What work you?” No, that’s not right.

“What you work?” Still not right. “What you do work?” Still not right, but better.

“Ah. What do I do for work?” Fin inquires with a sentence structure that I would never have thought to string together in a million years.

Belatedly, I realize she probably doesn’t want to talk about work after coming home so drained, but I lack the words to form conditionals, so I plod along with the current line of conversation.

“You say, TV coffee ad work?” She mentioned something about a television advertisement but used a lot of words that didn’t translate well.

Fin doesn’t seem to mind talking about her work or, if she does, she doesn’t let it show. “Yeah, I’m an assistant in a small advertising company. We help other companies sell lies,” she says bitterly. “We were shooting an ad for dog food today and it was hell.”

Thanks to my alphabet learning program, I at least know what a dog is. “Dog no good?”

“Oh no, the dogs were amazing. The dog food we were advertising is complete crap. What about you, Ka’Omnireth?” Fin asks with a teasing smile. “Do you have a job? What do you do when you’re not cosplaying as a fallen angel?”

Damn. I should have seen this coming. Why did I even ask about her job when it should have been obvious she’s going to ask about mine in return?

I don’t want to lie but what should I tell her?

I fly around the galaxy with a bunch of other aliens and a handful of humans rescuing people from slavery?

If she doesn’t already think I’m insane, she will afterward.