Serix felt the same jolt of energy when Cassie playfully batted him on the cheek as he had when she took his hands just a few minutes ago. He felt an absurd urge to catch her hand in his before she pulled away. He wanted to draw her closer, but at the same time he felt another urge to get away from her. He needed to take some time alone to sort out his thoughts. Her presence was causing him too much internal chaos.

Fortunately, Cassie gave him that very opportunity. She told him to go find something else to do while she continued to work on the robot. He nodded gratefully and headed out of the Robot Hangar, walking down the hallway back to the bedroom. He opened the door to see that the room was still dark. Oh right. They hadn’t turned the lights back on yet.

Serix didn’t bother to go all the way to the generator room to light up the room. He didn’t mind the darkness, so he just went inside and collapsed on his bed. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his face. There were so many things to think about. Compared to the looming threat of the coming Lunairans, his conflicted emotions about Cassie were dwarfed. But at least they were something he had control over. He couldn’t do anything about the invasion, but at least he could keep himself in check.

Their entire relationship was an anomaly. Everything Serix was raised to believe about interactions with females went out the window when he looked at Cassie. He didn’t speak to her formally, he didn’t keep a distance of two arms-lengths from her at all times… he just didn’t treat her like he had been taught. If anything, he had been interacting with her like she was his mate. The friendly words, the casual touches, and even his growing desire to protect her from harm all pointed to behavior of a mated male.

They had even shared a bed.

The weight of the previous night finally struck him. It was no wonder Cassie had gotten so angry. He had only intended to do her a courtesy by letting her go on sleeping, but now he realized just how uncomfortable it must have been for her to wake up beside him. They hardly knew each other. He let out an exasperated sigh. “Stupid,” he muttered to himself. He really needed to think things through sometimes.

**“Yo, Serix, mind bringing me a bottle of water to sip on while I fix this thing?”** Cassie’s voice rang out from down the hallway.

Serix climbed out of bed. He had spent enough time questioning his relationship with Cassie, and he had only managed to come around in a full circle, no less confused than he was when he started. He wandered down the hall to the food storage room and grabbed two bottles of water, one for her and one for himself, and then headed back to the Robot Hangar.

“Here,” he tossed her one and sat down beside her, stretching out his legs and leaning back on one arm. With his other hand, he opened his own water bottle and took a swig. “How is it coming along?”