I hope to surprise my Bonded, but these infernal machines! I repeatedly press my large fingers into the tiny buttons, managing to press at least seven instead of the one target one. I search Jake’s memories for the name of the device. Microwave. I growl in frustration as I try to press the ‘clear’ button, as I’m pretty sure that gets rid of all the glowing numbers on the screen. Instead, I hit 7, 3, 6 and 1. I barely manage to stop myself from ripping it away from the wall and tossing it across the room. In fact, now that I mention it... I grip either side of the box-like machine and prepare to heave it away, consequences be damned. Then I feel a smooth, warm hand rub my shoulder affectionately. I can’t help but sigh and let my anger melt away.

“Relax,” Jake commands, his voice soft but stern. I hang my head in shame, but instead of punishing me for what I was about to do, we gives my head a quick rub. “Yes,” he says. “You do know how to pick ‘em.” I smile to myself. It is a wonder how I ended up with him; it was hard to find an Xenomorph who would treat a female with this much respect! Let alone a human. He however, seems to think he has a normal attitude towards others, which is both naive and incredibly charming. I step away from the ‘Microwave’ and allow him to press the delicate buttons.

“Try it,” Jake suggested. “It’s good.”

“Yes, but you are an omnivore. I am a carnivore.” Jake sighed and spooned a mouthful of baked beans into his mouth.

“You went to a lot of trouble to cook some food you don’t even like,” Jake commented sourly.

“I was cooking it for you...” Oh. Jake put his hand over hers, which was resting on the table beside her pile of beans.

“You shouldn’t have.” God she’s cute.

“You do know I heard that...?” Jake blushed. Whoops. Advena sniffed the air. “Hmph. I suppose I’ll try it...” Her inner maw slid out cautiously and took a small portion of baked beans off the plate. She chewed them thoroughly, deciding if they tasted good or not. “Tangy,” she observed. Jake shook his head with a goofy grin. If ‘Tangy’ was a good or bad thing was beyond his comprehension, but Advena cleaned her plate, so they couldn’t have been that bad. Jake took a little longer to finish his breakfast, but luckily when you have telepathy, talking with your mouth full isn’t a big problem.

“So, you ready to tell me your super important secret yet?” Jake asked.

“Er... soon!” Advena seemed quite nervous, and that answer had been slightly too quick. This was something important.

“Advena...” Jake protested.

“I promise, it won’t be long! I just need to wait until the time is right, otherwise...” Advena did not seem inclined to finish her sentence. Jake let the matter drop yet again. He realised he wasn’t being very assertive, but then again, he was a very submissive person. He tapped his fingers on the table, before dropping his dishes into the sink and settling down on the couch in the next room. Jake wondered once again what could possibly be on the TV, but knew it would be rude to find out because Advena didn’t have eyes, and wouldn’t be able to watch. Wow, Jake realised. That raises more questions than answers. Maybe she could see, just not by conventional means, or maybe she did have eyes, just not where Jake had expected them to be. Maybe he should ask her? “Maybe you’re thinking too loud again,” Advena intruded. “Turn this... TV of yours on and I’ll do my best to explain everything.” Jake did as he was told. There was currently a documentary on; it was about some planet and the creatures that inhabited it. None as impressive as the Xenomorph next to him though. “Okay, relax your body and mind. You may feel a bit of discomfort, but don’t panic. Whatever you do, just stay relaxed, else this won’t work.” Jake took a deep breath, calming himself. He nodded. “Good idea, keep your eyes closed.” Jake felt like he had suddenly shifted without moving a muscle. Blood rushed in his ears and he felt really dizzy. Suddenly, he could hear every tiny noise clearly. A pair of scissors dropped on the floor three rooms away from them. Slowly, his hearing got less intense as he zoned out. Finally, he opened his eyes. All the colours of the room seemed to blend in to each other, making the world look like some beautiful painting. It was quite odd really, he couldn’t make out details, but he could still recognise things easily. He glanced at the TV screen, and instantly got a slight headache. “Don’t stare at it for too long,” Advena warned him. The TV was just a blur of light and colours, constantly shifting and moving with no apparent purpose. Jake looked to his right, where Advena should have been. Instead, he was looking at the wall. He looked to his left, and shrieked. He then proceeded to trip over his tail and fall off the couch. “Oi! Stop that! You’ll bruise me!” Jake rubbed his sore domed head. He looked back at Advena, and once again saw himself.

“Screeeeee?”

“Jake, try using your head.”

“Oh, sorry. Did we just swap bodies?”

“Well... the bond that links us allows our minds to experience every single detail of our Bonded’s body if they should so allow it. And I mean every single detail. Enough so that they can, in essence, take control of the other’s body. Your brain is still in your head, and mine in my head. If I were to die, you would wake up in your body with a headache, and I would be dead. So technically, no, we have not ‘swapped bodies’ per say. But that’s the basic idea, yes.”

“Cool,” was all Jake could manage as he admired her body. He leapt up on the roof and hung there upside-down. He then tripped over as the world spun wildly and the colours of the room blacked out, slowly fading back into existence.

“Oops. Perhaps I should warn you next time...” Jake realised he was on his back, staring at the ceiling. Staring back at him was Advena, hanging off the roof in her own body again. Jake laughed.

“Oh yeah, we’re definitely doing that again.”

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Jake had actually been half-expecting her to say ‘that’s what she said’ instead, but she probably wouldn’t get that joke anyway. He found himself wondering what it would be like doing that while having sex... Jake quickly changed his train of thought, hoping to god Advena hadn’t heard that. She was, to his relief, too busy climbing down from the roof without tearing up the wall too much.

“That must have been really weird to watch,” Jake thought to her, referring to their earlier antics.

“Mmm. I wonder what the camera-people thought when they saw that? ‘Oh, Jake’s been drinking lots of alcohol today!’” Advena laughed at her own joke, but sensed there was something wrong. She almost asked, but Jake was already one step ahead of her.

“I wish there was some way of outsmarting them without showing that we know what’s going on here. Something that looks innocent, but gives us some privacy from prying eyes...” Oooh. Now that was something Advena could do. She rubbed her hands together and rushed into the bedroom. Jake moved to follow her, but she stopped him at the doorway.

“Ah ah! It’s a surprise. No peeking!” She closed the door and retreated inside. Jake shook his head and plopped back down on the couch, waiting for her to let him in on her big ‘surprise’.

“Jaaaaaake! It’s reeeeaaady! Jake! Wake up!”

“Wha- oh, hi Advena.” Jake pushed the book off his face and rubbed his eyes. He must have fallen asleep while waiting for her. How long had her surprise taken? Four hours? Six? A hand slipped over Jake’s eyes as Advena led him to their room. Jake heard the door creak open and felt a huge shift in temperature. It was quite cosy and humid in their room now. He hadn’t even realised how cold the rest of their place was. The hand slowly peeled away from his face, revealing their new room to him. He gasped. The walls were covered in the weird resin stuff Xenomorphs coated their hives in. Jake ran a hand along some of the hard material in awe. The walls were covered in it, no spot was left bare. And every single wall was covered in intricate patterns that seemed random and purposeful at the same time. “It’s beautiful...” Advena shuffled modestly.

“Oh, it was nothing special really...”

“Nothing special?” Jake almost shouted. “It’s incredible! How long did this take you?”

“Ah, quite some hours...”

“I’ll bet it did! No human could make anything nearly as awesome as this in their entire lifetime!” Advena flopped down in their nest.

“I’m tired,” she yawned. “I might take a little nap...” Had she possessed eye lids, they would have drifted shut. Instead, she just went slightly limper, making Jake wonder how much energy it had taken to do this. She must’ve used something from her body... like saliva, in which case it would’ve been exhausting. Jake consoled to make her a special breakfast in the morning as he lifted up her limp arm and wriggled underneath it, as close to her as he could get. It was odd really; the best friend he had was the very thing he once hated most. He couldn’t imagine shooting another Xenomorph ever again now.

“It’s intriguing really,” Kaleb Weyland commented. He was the leader of this entire space station. He wasn’t really of Weyland blood, but it had been a tradition for a few decades now that anyone who took on the role of a Weyland Industries leader also took the name. His two ever-present generals were at his sides, following his gaze to the computer screen.

“Hey boss, she’s getting a bit close to the camera...” the first one observed. His name was Corey.

“Don’t worry Core, we’ll just go in there and uncover it,” the second one, Jeica, responded patronisingly. Corey hated that nickname. The Xenomorph splattered a blob of the stuff over the lens of the camera, blocking off the room from their view.

“No idiot!” Kaleb snapped, slapping her on the back of the head. “We’re not going to interfere with this. We are simply going to observe...”

“But what if he takes off the collar –”

“Do you really think so little of me? The remote will warn the guard if the collar is being taken off. This panel here will also tell us.” Kaleb pointed to a small piece of plastic jutting out of the panel. It was dark grey at the moment, but Jeica suspected it would glow a bright red or orange when it was warning them. Also, it would probably make an annoying noise like the rest of the warning systems on the station. She sighed and readjusted her askew helmet. She turned to leave the room, picking up her Pulse Rifle as she did so. “Where are you going?” Kaleb demanded. Jeica flashed her watch at him.

“Eight o’ clock. The guard’s changing over.” Kaleb shrugged indifferently and returned his attention to the cameras. Now that he was unable to look at the Xenomorph, he checked on Jake, whose eyes were drifting shut as he lay on his back reading a book. Kaleb leaned back in his chair and motioned for Corey to go wake up a night watchman to take over the cameras. He planned on getting some shuteye too.