Xenomorph

Examination

The extraction model moved as silently as possible as he crept through the vents towards Gavin's room. The mission successful alert was still blinking in his peripheral. His lips curled at the sight of the small orange box. It had been quite a night. Clean-up had taken longer than the event itself. A lot longer. Dealing with the boyfriend had been far too quick. It had almost lacked satisfaction. He'd taken Elijah's reminder to heart. He doubted either he or Chloe would appreciate bloodstains on the expensive rugs of the front parlour. Taking that into account, and wanting to limit physical evidence, he'd made it quick. Making it quick had also greatly assisted in the staging. Anyone who found him, if anyone found him, would likely believe the injuries had come from crashing his motorcycle down the mountainside. With any luck, finding him would take many months, if not years, considering the closed off nature of the hillsides. Enough time for Gavin to forget him. Enough time for him to believe this Davey had simply lost interest and moved on. Hopefully, no one would notice or care he was gone, beyond the landlord evicting him and disposing of his belongings.

Those were problems that could wait for another day though. Right now, his new priority was to check on Gavin's physical condition. He'd seen the bruising and possibly more serious injuries through the eyes of his reconnaissance model, but had yet to examine them with his own more advanced optical units. In his true form, he could perform a more in-depth analysis and scan deeper beneath the surface of his sensitive skin. He would be lucky if they were only bruises. Internal bleeding could be a serious problem. The thought of how bad his injuries might have been made the extraction model move faster.

He slowed and crept more carefully as he approached the metal passage leading to Gavin's room. Although he was relatively sure the high alcohol level in his blood would keep him unconscious until morning, he needed to scan to confirm it first. He scuttled through the tight passage, using his claws to pull and his tail to push. At the mesh panel, he paused to look down into the darkened room. Chloe had departed some time ago, leaving his reconnaissance model curled up on the bed beside Gavin where he'd left it. He closed his eyes and transferred.

Tiny blinked his eyes open and looked around the large room. It was always somewhat disorienting, swapping to the smaller model. The world seemed so much larger from his limited perspective. He could travel around the house and estate freely, and was much harder to catch. He also had more opportunities to hide and sneak in his smaller body. The downside was that he was far smaller, with only a fraction of his usual strength. He was weak and feeble. Not up to the task of protecting Gavin. He clicked with disdain at the thought. Luckily, he had his larger body for such things.

He turned his attention to Gavin, who was sleeping peacefully as he'd left him earlier. Chloe had left a glass and a large bottle of water on the bedside table to help with the dehydration later. Tiny stretched his small body as he got to his feet, enjoying the way his spine segments and tail clicked and loosened. He trilled softly as he crept closer to Gavin's side. Gavin was on his back with one arm resting across his stomach while the other lay above his head. He often slept like this, except during those times he'd turn on his side and let Tiny shuffle back against his chest. Tiny very much enjoyed those times. It made monitoring Gavin's heartbeat far easier, and with his tail coiled over Gavin's side, he always knew if he moved in his sleep or tried to leave.

He eased himself higher, resting his small, clawed hands on Gavin's pecs. He leaned closer to his sleeping face and examined him. Gavin didn't stir at the physical contact, and his eyes were twitching beneath the lids. REM sleep. Tiny breathed in an analysis of his breath. There was a high alcohol content. High enough that he wouldn't wake for a few hours, even if he was touched. That was a good thing for what Tiny had in mind. He chittered happily as he hopped back and curled up in anticipation. His silvery black eyes fluttered shut as he returned to his true form.