Alright, I'm back, and it's time for the two families to really get to know each other! So, without further ado, let's begin...
Later that evening, Kira decided to bring Aster and Star with her to Kai's place. Because of the size of Xenomorphs, Kira had to buy a fairly large car that could hold them both before they moved out to their new home. Fortunately, Kai was living in a semi-secluded area. The region was definitely unincorporated.
"Okay, so you two need to be on your best behavior when we're visiting Kai and his family, okay?" Kira asked.
"Yes, Mom." Star said.
"It'll be just like the good old days we had." Aster said.
Soon enough, they made it to Kai's house, and they all walked up to the dimly-lit porch. Kira rang the doorbell, and Kai opened up the door for them.
"Ah, see you made it." Kai said, just before peering around. "Nobody's followed you?"
"Nope." Kira said.
"Good," Kai said. "c'mon inside!"
The three came into the house... and Kira happened to recall that she had never seen Kai's house before.
"Nice place..." Kira said, looking around.
"Thanks." Kai said. "I always try to keep my place of living modest."
At that moment... another Xenomorph appeared from the other room, and she happened to notice the guests.
"Kai... are these..." she asked.
"Ah, Sugarcube." Kai said. "Yep, these are the surprise guests I mentioned!"
The female Xenomorph Drone immediately rushed for them, wrapping her arms around Kira.
"It's so good to see you again, Kira!" Sugarcube said. "Where have you been for the last year?"
"...N-ngh...!" Kira strained as Sugarcube was crushing her.
"Oh... sorry." Sugarcube said, releasing her. "I still don't know my own strength."
"Hey, Sugarcube." Aster said.
Sugarcube turned her attention to the male Drone.
"Aster!" she said, hugging him next. "Hi, how are you?"
Slowly but surely, Aster returned the hug. "...Been a while, hasn't it?"
"It sure has!" Sugarcube said.
After a moment... she happened to notice Star, who was standing off to one side.
"Star!?" Sugarcube asked in disbelief. "My goodness, you've grown!"
"Um... thanks?" Star said, on the spot.
"Oh, right... you probably don't remember me." Sugarcube said. "I'm Sugarcube Ripley, Kai's mate. He rescued me from an awful lab... one where they performed painful experiments on me nearly every day... and we escaped to a different planet, mated on the way... and I gave birth to our son... and... it was truly the happiest moment of my life..."
"Speaking of which..." Kira interjected. "...where is Chase?"
"Oh, I'm sure he's playing on his XBOX Skyline upstairs..." Kai answered.
With that, all of them went up the stairs... and peered into a small rec room to find a young male Drone playing a video game.
"Ha-ha! Take THAT, giant asteroid!" Chase said loudly at the game he was playing. "And YOU, ya slimy tentacle alien monster! Think you're so clever... wait 'til I discombobulate you into the black hole!"
"Hey, Chase." Kai said.
"Huh...?" Chase asked, looking away from the game, and then immediately looking back. "GAH! Aw, Dad... you made me miss the Proton Pod!"
"I think you've played enough Galactic Invaders: Interstellar Edition for one day, young man..." Sugarcube said.
Chase sighed. "Okay..." he said, switching off the console.
Kira and Aster stepped into the bedroom.
"Chase..." Kai said. "...these are the guests I mentioned would be coming over. This is Kira Sykes, a friend of mine from college... which, technically, still applies since we both somehow ended up in the same college once again."
"Small world, right?" Kira said. "And you probably don't remember me, Chase; you were only a day old when I last saw you."
Sugarcube stepped over towards Chase, off to his side, and motioned towards Aster.
"And this is Kira's mate, Aster." she said. "He is a Xenomorph, just like you and me... and we both came from the same research lab."
Aster approached Chase, kneeling down to his level.
"How's it goin', big guy?" Aster said. "You were just a baby when we first met!"
"N-nice to meet you..." Chase said, a bit on the spot by the sudden fact that he was seeing more of his kind.
At that moment, Star entered the room, and it took a moment for Chase to notice her. He immediately stood upright at the sight of her, tapping Sugarcube's leg to get his mother's attention.
"...Who is she?" Chase asked, pointing to Star.
Sugarcube smiled. "Chase, that is Star. She's the daughter of Kira and Aster. She's only older than you by a few seconds! So, you are both the same age." she said.
"...U-uh..." Chase stammered, hiding behind his mother's legs.
"Don't hide, sweetie!" Sugarcube said, chuckling as she pulled him out from behind her and right in front of Star. "Say hi!"
Star stepped forward, and right in front of a very nervous Chase.
Chase fidgeted with his hands a bit. "...W-well... um... h... h-hi..." he uttered.
"It's okay! I don't bite..." Star said.
"...Uh... y-yeah... um... I-I... ah..." Chase could not get himself to speak correctly.
He turned his head away, folding his hands in front of himself while hunching his shoulders. Star giggled. Kira was giggling a bit as well.
He's so shy... Kira thought. ...how cute.
They all went downstairs and had a dinner of pizza and salad; Kai had prepared beforehand and ordered it. All of them thoroughly enjoyed the food, eating pretty much all of it. After that, they all played some games like Catchphrase, Mad Gab, Telestrations, and others. Sure, they were fairly old games, but still fun nonetheless. Everybody had fun. Although...
...whenever Chase got paired up with Star for certain games, he still found it hard to try and speak to her. Always getting a little tongue-tied (or brain-tied, in the case of a Xenomorph), Star struggled to interpret what he was trying to tell her, but she always found it kind of funny.
However, Kira seemed to know what was going on around here...
"I really don't know why Chase is so shy around Star..." Kai said.
Kira chuckled. "...Looks like Chase's got a li'l ol' crush on Star..." she said.
Kai raised a brow. "Think so...?" he asked.
"Trust me, Kai..." Kira said. "...I've seen the signs from him. He definitely interested in Star."
"I don't know about this..." Kai said. "...aren't they a little... young for this kind of thing?"
Kira shrugged. "Maybe for now, but when they grow up a little more..." she trailed off.
"You say something, Mom?" Star asked.
"Oh, it's nothing, sweetie." Kira said.
Soon, it became fairly late, and it was time for the Sykes' to head home. Kai and Sugarcube both started to clean up the kitchen and dining room.
"Well, tonight was fun!" Kira said.
"It was really nice to meet all of you!" Star said on their way out.
"Wait!" Chase said, catching them before they left.
He stopped right in front of Star, and nervously pressed his index fingertips together.
"...Um... S-Star..." he began. "...you... um... you'll come back... r-right...?"
"Yeah, totally!" Star said. "You might not be much of a talker... but I like you!"
Chase brought his head back upright, and a big smile appeared on his face. He started nervously chuckling, trying to force words once again, all coming out as gibberish. Star giggled to herself again.
Why is it so cute when he does that...? she thought.
"Well, we hope to see you all again soon!" Kira said.
"Yeah, it was nice to meet some old friends again." Aster said.
"Hey, Chase!" Kai called from the other room. "Could you get all of the pizza boxes and put them in the garbage can outside?"
Chase snapped back to reality, turning in the direction he heard his father.
"Yes, Dad!" Chase said. "I'll do it right now!"
Moments later, Kira, Aster, and Star were all back in their car, pulling out of Kai's driveway. On the way back, Star's mind was racing... and yet she did not know why. All she could think about was Chase. Sure it was nice to meet Sugarcube... but something about Chase seemed really set-apart from it all. In a good way, that is.
He is a bit shy... but he's definitely a sweet guy. Star thought. Hope we can visit them again, soon! I look forward to seeing Chase again!
Well, I hope it's getting interesting for a buildup. Again, sorry that I haven't been updating too frequently. Hopefully, it should start coming faster soon, since my summer class ends in about two weeks from now. So, keep in check for more to come! See you all later! Keep holding on...