Serix grinned when Cassie laughed at his dramatic collapse on the bed. It was a pleasant sound, and it was pleasant to know that he could draw it out of her like that. He then noticed a silence had fallen between them as they stared at each other across the room. However, it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. It almost felt natural.

As they looked at each other, Serix took in every detail of Cassie’s face: her blue eyes with their hints of Lunairan violet, her golden hair that framed her face; those were always the two things he noticed the most because they were so exotic. Now, as he lay staring at her, he picked up on her more subtle features: her long lashes, the narrow bridge of her nose, the faint freckles that dotted her cheeks. He was struck again by her beauty.

Cassie turned away all too soon, rolling over so that her face was buried in her pillow, fully hidden from view. He frowned. Maybe staring at someone for so long was considered rude in human culture. He hoped he didn’t cause her any offense. He was about to ask her what was wrong, when she turned back to him again. Was it his imagination, or did he see the remnants of a slight flush in her cheeks?

Cassie went on to explain something called a ‘Sleeping Beauty.’ He didn’t understand most of the verbiage she used. Princess, witch, curse, prince… the terms only served to further confuse him. He thought he understood what she was trying to say, though. Apparently it was a story in human folklore about a female called ‘Princess’ who fell into an unnatural sleep. He wondered if Curse was a type of illness. If it was, he hoped it had long since died out. It would be bad news if he or Cassie fell into a coma like that.

Cassie went on to explain how the thing called Prince revived Princess with a kiss. By that, he assumed Prince was the female’s mate. But how was it possible for one to heal a sickness with no medicine or surgery? The concept made no sense to him at all. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that Princess overcame the disease when her mate kissed her. Of course that could lead Prince to believe that he was the one to make her well again. Or maybe the storyteller was the one to spin their tale into something more fantastic.

Cassie suddenly switched courses by reaching into the bag of weapons and tossing him something. Serix caught the object and held it up to examine it more closely. It didn’t look dangerous at all. It was just a rounded case with a metal button on one side. Curiously, he pressed it and a tiny blade sprang out from the side. The knife was so small. He imagined trying to use it in a fight, but the image was so ridiculous that he just laughed.

[b]“Here, take that,”[/b] Cassie said. [b]“It's got a knife and a few other tools. It comes in handy a lot.”[/b] Another thought seemed to cross her mind and she met his gaze. [b]“If you want, maybe tomorrow I can give you some lessons in shooting?”[/b]

“Thanks for the offer,” Serix said, tucking the blade back into its case and setting it on the table next to his bed. “But I think I know how to use a gun.” His eyes glittered teasingly as he looked back to Cassie. “From what I can see, it functions just like a Silencer. It just uses different ammunition, right? There’s not much of a difference. I can adjust.” He stretched out his legs and rolled onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. “We should go to sleep, since it’s probably late. It’s so hard to tell with these constant lights. It almost feels like it’s still the middle of the day.” He frowned and glanced back at Cassie. “Is there any way to turn them off—at least in this room? They’re messing with my sleep patterns.”