Unpretentious

Chapter Two: Ambiguities

Chapter Two: Ambiguities

Crossing the threshold of the room that Call has claimed, Ripley sees the girl standing still, in front of the sink in the small bathroom, her dark jacket lies at her feet, the edge of the sweater raised almost to the shoulder blades, the head bent. She's examining the open hole in her abdomen, still unaware of her presence.

"Oh boy, it's tiny!", she exclaims, announcing herself.

The young woman jumps in surprise, and in an instinctive gesture, her fingers tighten on the edge of the t-shirt, pulling it down. The clone looks at her tenderly, silently closes the door and with a fluid gesture gets rid of her leather jacket, soaked in sweat, stained with blood and slippery by the slime of xenomorphs.

She looks at the android, stuck in the same position in which she had find her, except for her head, slightly turned sideways, as if she wanted to control her movements with the corner of her eye.

She deposits the two kits on a small shelf nearby, finds a hook for her garment, then slowly approaches, she sees her stiffening, but decides not to let her notice, giving her a few more moments, she plucks one arm towards the ground, picks up the other jacket and hooks it as well.

With a kit in her hand, she gets close to her once again, this time determined to engage her.

"Come on...", she says kindly, the tips of her fingers touching lightly on Call's, and then slipping to find a firmer, still gentle grip.

The young woman lets her drag herself with surrender, Ripley makes her sit on the small cot and softly palms her torso to make her lay down. A surprising look paints the android's face for a split second, and she decides to lighten the atmosphere with a calm laugh.

"Really?", she jokes, rolling her eyes.

She places the box close by, to clarify her wills.

"Where did you find it?", Call asks.

"Vriess gave it to me", she answers, unsure whether to add something or not. Her fingers reach the edge of the shirt, she stops.

"May I?", she questions.

"Such care doesn't suit you at all", the young woman comments, to dispel embarrassment, she lifts her tank top by herself, uncovering the damage. She watches the corners of her mouth curl up in a half smile in return of her statement, and then her gaze focused on the hole, her long fingers touch the skin around it, the contact makes her abdomen flickering, involuntary.

The woman opens the kit, spreads the contents on the mattress, and starts consulting the manual. Call watches her in silence, thinking about how able she is in changing her attitude in seconds, from threatening alien creature to loving and caring human being.

Not to mention her ambiguity! The first time she met her, she was shamelessly flirting with Johner, then she started targeting her. Thankfully she spared her the beating he got, so far, at least.

The previous allusive joke in the bridge had embarrassed her terribly, and she's not sure whether it is because of the joke itself, or the fact that it was made in the presence of others, as if she had claimed her as her own. She's not sure if she wants to be claimed as someone's property. Not even as hers.

"Sorry about earlier", Ripley breaks the silence suddenly, off-guarding her for guessing her thoughts.

"It's all right", she replies in a hurry.

"No, it's not right...", the woman teases her with no accusation.

"Come on, spit it out, I deserve it...", she admits in a cooperative way, scanning the room looking for a flashlight.