King of the Hive

Chapter 3: Breakfast

Advena slowly became aware of her surroundings, signalling that she was waking up. She gently licked the bite mark she’d left on her mate last night apologetically. Biting that particular spot was the Xenomorph way of showing you were mates, but Advena had restrained herself from doing it before because she thought Jake wouldn’t enjoy it as much as she would. He seemed like he got pleasure from it at the time... Advena sighed and nuzzled his chin affectionately. She just enjoyed her mate in that moment; breathing in his scent, listening to his heartbeat, feeling the heat emanating from his naked form. It really was a shame they couldn’t stay like this forever. Jake opened his eyes blearily underneath her.

“Mornin’” he said groggily. Advena giggled girlishly and hopped off him. Jake took her hand in his and they walked to the kitchen together, him leaning on her shoulder tiredly. Jake halted and told her to sit down at the table.

“Why?”

“Well, if you’re not going to let me get you a present, then at least let me make breakfast for you!”

“Fair enough, just don’t kill yourself in there. You look ready to drop.”

“Yeah, last night was so intense... I’m looking forward to next year.”

“It was as much of a gift for me as it was for you.”

“I’m still making you breakfast!” Jake told her, using his mind because he was now in the kitchen and out of talking range. “Besides, some coffee will get me up and going.” Advena made herself comfortable by lying on the bench seat that was adjacent to the table like a dog, with her arms folded in front of her and her head on top of them. Jake came back with a plateful of pancakes, some baked beans and some toast. He also placed a couple of glasses of coffee down. Advena sat up and grinned at the black coffee in front of her, her personal favourite.  Jake sipped his coffee, then took a bite of toast.

“So, I wonder what made your parents show up so suddenly, wanting to get back together. Perhaps they missed you?” Advena suggested. Jake shrugged.

“They’re an enigma to me, I barely recognised their voices they’ve changed so much. Maybe the way they look at things has changed and they’re willing to accept their own son now.” Jeica wandered in, looking rather lost and tired. She had bags under her eyes and it seemed as though she hadn’t got any sleep last night. “Good morning,” Jake greeted her with his mind, because his mouth was full.

“Oh, good morning?” she replied uncertainly, and rather dozily. “That smells good...” Jake swallowed his food before speaking.

“You can join us if you like. Maybe you should grab some coffee first...”

“Yeah, I could use a pick-me-up,” she groaned.

“Well, that was strange,” Advena commented.

“You read my mind...”

“No I didn’t.”

“It’s an expression Advena. It means I was thinking the exact same thing.”

“Oh. Humans are odd.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Jake retorted. Jeica trotted back in with a steaming mug of coffee. She sipped it tentatively as she sat down at the table with them. They finished their meal in silence. Jeica leaned back in her chair and patted her stomach.

“Thanks, that hit the spot. So, how are things?” she asked, closing her eyes for a bit.

“Great... you?” Jake couldn’t help but sound a little bit concerned.

“I’m fine.”

“Really? You look kind of... tired.”

“That’s an understatement,” Advena informed him, only him though.

“I’m fine,” Jeica repeated.

“And where’s Mozart? I thought he would be here with you?”

“Look, would you stop berating me?” Jeica growled angrily, startling Jake slightly. “I’m fine, okay? Why bring Mozart into this? He’s buggering around doing his own thing! How should I know? I’m not his mother!” She stormed out of the room. Jake slowly turned to face Advena, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“She’s probably just menstruating,” Advena said dismissively.

“I wish human women were as easy to talk to as you are Advena. You could be right, but then there could be something serious going on, or maybe she’s trying to hide something. Who knows? I swear women are as alien as you are.” Advena raised an eyebrow at this, figuratively; she didn’t actually possess eyebrows. After a few minutes of silent pondering, Jake got up and cleared away their dishes. Advena stretched like a cat, then started slinking back to their room.

“I think I might take a nap, last night was a little exhausting... do you want to come too?”

“Yeah,” Jake grinned. “I’m always up for a little snuggling.” Jake suddenly narrowed his eyes as he figured something out in his head that lead to more questions than answers. He decided not to bother anyone about it until he had more facts though. So he allowed Advena to curl her tail around his shoulders and lead him back to their room.