Xenomorph, Emotion or Instinct

Chapter 7: Normal doesn't exist

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Hours pasted as Arran and Zathena slept, her slender body formed a protective cocoon around his. The twisting and weaving of her body resembled that of a puzzle, an ancient instinctual formation that the xenomorphs used in their hives. The hours came and went as they embraced each other, at 5am Arran became restless, and he awoke to see Zathena slowly caressing his stomach and chest. She was in a strange pose with her head curled into her and so Arran asked her quietly, "Zathena, are you awake?" To which no movement or voice or even noise left her, Arran just lay there in contemplation. Now that they had fully given each other all they could Arran looked forward to his plan for today, it was his day off so he wanted to make the most of it. Then a flash of brilliance struck him, slowly he crept out of bed being careful not to make too much noise.

Going over to his communicator he called an old friend of his back from his recruitment days, he and Arran had shared one off world mission against rebels but Arran was reluctant to bring him into his situation. That would come as it may though because Arran knew him well and he'd always been willing to assist him in the past. Once Arran had a quick chat with his friend he could then smell himself, he realised he hadn't had a shower for three days and with all the sex and the experiences, he really needed one. He went into his bathroom and closed the door, removing his clothes he then stepped into the shower and turned the water on. The feeling of running water was so relaxing to him, the warming sensations and cleaning process going on made him feel so much more calming. As he started to bathe himself he used his favourite shower gel, it was scented like almonds and peaches, a refreshing taste of home for his senses.

When he finished then he quickly washed his hair and used a specially formulated shampoo, mainly for his dry scalp that he sometimes took issue with, but his naturally deep black and thick hair reduced his discomfort somewhat. He was almost done when Zathena all of a sudden awoke. She was scared that her mate had left her alone, but then the sounds of running water assured her he was in there. His unmistakable heartbeat rhythm, its quickened pace made her slightly anxious but then it didn't sound particularly fast. She quietly opened the door and looked inside; there he was all on show for her to see, at that moment she got an idea for a very mischievous prank. She used her gripping claws to climb up the wall and onto the ceiling, she was then right above and behind him, she started smiling menacingly at him. Her mouth opened and her inner mouth appeared, both sets started widened as if to look like a very intimidating, very cheeky smile. She then hissed at him as if hissing at helpless prey, the sound was eerie and undeniably creepy. Arran heard the noise and was in such intense shock he slipped; luckily he grabbed the railing and stopped himself falling. He turned around to face the creature that made the noise and saw her hissing in hysteria, he then heard her voice say, oh, I'm so… hee…hee…hee… Sorry Arran. I just couldn't resist it; your body practically asked me to.

Arran was just recovering from the shock of having a xenomorph right above him, he then let out a sigh and when his blood temperature returned from what felt like absolute zero even in his warm shower, he just burst out laughing. No fear, no cries, no shouting, no anger or resentment, he just realised how funny the whole situation was. Zathena then came down to his level in his shower, because of the medium size of the shower her head was tilted down far more than usual just to fit comfortably. Now Arran saw just how big she was cause well, he was 6" 4", reasonably tall and even with her head down looking right into his eyes she was still towering about six inches above the top of his head. She was standing around a couple of feet away and she could smell this really odd scent on him, it wasn't her and it wasn't the scent of another animal so what had marked him. Arran didn't know this but the xenomorphs marked one another with a scent so that they could tell each other apart. He had indirectly washed off her scent and replaced it causing her to feel a little bit sad and depressed that he didn't even care about removing her scent for something else. Then she realised he been marked by a plant, or almonds and peaches to be precise, then she forcefully grabbed him and he heard her say, why Arran? Why did you do it? Don't you love me? I mean, we, we, we bonded Arran. We bonded; does that mean nothing to you? She sounded very upset and quite hysterical, Arran then sounding completely lost on the subject asked, "What's wrong? Did I hurt you? Have I, done, something? Please tell me and I'll try to right it." She then told him, you've been marked by the smell, of some pointless, pathetic plants! Why?! Why Arran? Do I disgust you? Is that it? Arran then thought back to his xeno scent research and felt like a complete asshole for doing that to her, trying to right his mistake he said, "No, you, you've got it all wrong! Humans use sweet smelling lotions to clean themselves. I don't do this to spite you, far from it, I actually do this to smell clean and pleasing to you. Please tell me you don't think I value a plant over something as magnificent as you. Do you?" Zathena recoiled and he heard her say, you enjoy telling your lies, this is a betrayal of my love Arran! He then quickly exclaimed, "It's not! Its almond and peaches! That's all, just for a nice smell."