Serix thought he would be ready for any reaction Cassie threw at him. Yelling, hitting, accusations… he was prepared for it all. What he [i]didn’t[/i] expect was for her to wrap her arms around him in an embrace. It caught him so off-guard that he didn’t even think to return the gesture. He just blinked at her in surprise when she pulled away and thanked him for doing what he did, saying that her panic attacks were usually much worse. He managed to smile again. At least he had been able to make the whole experience less traumatic for her. That had to count for something.

[b]“Now, let's go get those weapons,”[/b] Cassie said. [b]“It’s just a few buildings down. We can take the roof. A higher ground will keep us out of their sight and we'll be able to see them before they see us.”[/b]

“Sounds good to me,” Serix agreed. He followed her as she found a ladder on a nearby building and began to ascend it to the top. They travelled along the tops of the buildings, leaping across the gaps between each one. He was reminded of the time they first met. Except back then, he had been pursuing Cassie like prey during a hunt. He looked at her now, golden hair streaming in the wind. She seemed to be shrouded in an eerie glow with the moonlight reflecting in her hair and eyes. It was no wonder he had been so fascinated with her that first night. He had just been too wrapped up in the thrill of the chase to notice the draw of her unearthly beauty.

They continued running along the buildings until they found the weapons store. Cassie led the way inside and wasted no time in filling her bag with supplies. While she was busy doing that, Serix wandered among the shelves of guns and other weaponry. It was the first time he had gotten a close look at any human-made instruments of war. Many of them were similar in size and shape as the Lunairan Silencers and ray guns. He picked up a long gun from a rack. It was surprisingly heavy, quite unlike the featherweight weapons of his people. He wondered how it would have been used in battle.

Serix saw that Cassie had finished loading up on supplies. He put the gun back where he had found it – they would have enough weapons already – and walked back to join her at the entrance. On the way back, he stopped by a glass display of weapons labeled ‘pistols’ and leaned over the case. One model in particular had caught his eye. It had a sleek, black-and-silver build and was about the same size as his Silencer. Something about it just looked Lunairan to him. He moved around to the other side of the glass display to open it up and take out the gun. It still had the characteristic heaviness of human weaponry, but in comparison with the other guns he had come across, the pistol was much lighter. He took it with him when he went to rejoin Cassie.

The trip back was welcomingly uneventful. They managed to make it all the way back to the hideout without catching even a hint of the Scouts. When they were back in the storage room, Serix sat down on his bed and leaned back against the wall it was propped against. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head tiredly.

[b]“No more going out for a long while... that was... crazy,”[/b] Cassie muttered from her own bed.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Serix said. To exaggerate his weariness, he let himself fall sideways until he was lying down and then let out a groan. “I could sleep for days.” He met her gaze across the room. “At least we got what we needed, right?”