When Cassie took the gun from his hands and set it aside, Serix instantly knew she was going to give him a step-by-step on the basics of shooting. He was about to give her an indignant response, saying that he didn’t need her help, but he held his tongue. His performance just now had been pretty bad. Even if he tried to explain that he wasn’t expecting the noise or the kickback, that he would do fine now that he could account for those factors, he knew she would just shrug him off as being haughty. No point in starting up an argument over it, so he let her run him through the techniques. Cassie nudged his feet into position and then reached for his hands. His heart leaped unexpectedly when their skin touched. The feeling was gone again in an instant, leaving him startled and mildly confused. He nodded absently as Cassie continued to give him instructions, but he was no longer focusing on her words. _What was that?_ Serix blinked. Cassie’s touch always seemed to have that effect on him. He had expected the foreign feeling to fade after a while, but instead it was happening more often. He stared at Cassie as she finished up her instructions to him. It was true that he found her visually appealing, but his attraction didn’t run deeper than that. It couldn’t. They were only fellow survivors in this apocalyptic planet… survivors who just so happened to be of the opposite sex. He swallowed uneasily. Serix realized Cassie had finished speaking and was waiting for his answer. He shook off his daze and gave her a small nod, “Yes.” He picked up his gun again and took aim at the target, aligning his body the way Cassie had just demonstrated. He tuned out the distracting thoughts about their relationship and reined in his focus to the matter at hand. He might have messed up royally on his first shot, but he was a fast learner. His second bullet went right through the center of the box. He lowered the weapon and threw Cassie a smug, lopsided grin, “Huh. Not so bad, am I?”

Cassie stepped away once he said he had it, watching closely this time. He stood as she had told him to and she didn't feel the need to cover her ears with the silencer on, so this time she could watch him took aim and shoot. This time the bullet went straight through the center and he turned giving her a lopsided grin that made her laugh, her heart skipping a beat at the way he looked at her with that confident air. Walking over, she playfully and mimicking his smug attitude she patted his cheek before taking the gun to reload it. "Don't get too cocky, Serix. That's a sitting target. it gets harder with moving ones. We'll have to wait to practice that once I get some of these robots running." Some of the robots here were made to easily take bullets undamaged so she was sure they could use them for target practice later on. She should probably get started on that now that she thought about it. Having finished reloading his gun and handing it back to him, she smiled, "Okay, here. You do what you want right now. Practice, go get something to eat from the storage or whatever. I'm actually going to continue working on the robot I was fixing yesterday." With that, she walked over to the small remote controlled robot and knelt down, opening it's back up again to set to work. This particular robot was smaller than the others and so she was pretty sure it shouldn't take her that long to get it working. She hoped it wouldn't anyway. But then again, this was her father's work and he had been known to make thing more complicated than they looked in order to keep people from stealing the concept of his different mechanical inventions. She sighed, clipping a few of the wires and replacing them, speaking up load enough for him to hear. She wasn't sure if he was in the room with her anymore so she spoke load enough that he should have been able to at least hear her from the down the hall, "Yo, Serix, mind bringing me a bottle of water to sip on while I fix this thing?"

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?”

Cassie glanced over at him when he sat down, and she caught the water bottle tossed to her, opening it and taking a few sips out of it before she shrugged, speaking to him, "Actually, I think I'm almost done. That is unless my dad was sneaky and put a few secrets into the robot's mechanics, which would mean it will take a little bit longer than expected, but I'm hoping that's not the case. At least with the smaller robots that is." She capped the bottle of water and set it beside her before she went back to work, tightening and replacing things within the robot, and just a few minutes later, she was fairly sure she had it. Grinning to herself, she pointed over to one of the smaller tables against the wall, "Hand me that remote off of the table so I can test it's functions so far." She stated and when she was handed it, stood up, looking over at him, "Cross your fingers and hope this works." With that, she flipped it on and the old robot began humming to life, lights on it and such blinking. Very slowly, once the robot was booted up, she moved the joystick on the remote, laughing with relief and joy that it was actually flying around, "Yes! It works! It actually works!" She was so happy that, in her joy, she found herself hugging Serix around the neck, laughing happily before she realized it and when she did come to see she was hugging him, she pulled back, feeling the tension and awkwardness between the two before she let go completely, taking a step away and letting go, silent for a moment as she kept her eyes back on the robot as she drove it around using the joystick. After a long moment of that she glanced over to him, "Do...you want to try and drive it?"

Serix watched Cassie work on the robot for a few minutes. Her hands moved with nimble dexterity as she manipulated the internal parts. As he had no experience with technology like this, Serix could only sit by and wait for her to finish. It didn’t take long. After a few last tweaks to the machine, she sealed it back up and turned to him. **“Hand me that remote off of the table so I can test its functions so far,”** Cassie instructed, gesturing at a table that was pushed up against a nearby wall. Serix got to his feet and stepped over to the table, grabbing the remote she had indicated and bringing it back to her. Cassie stood up and turned it on. A number of flashing lights blinked to life on the robot. Serix watched it in fascination. Its durability was impressive. It was still able to function with only a few minor adjustments after so many years of sitting in a storage room. Cassie’s father had done an amazing job in creating this machine. **“Yes! It works! It actually works!”** Cassie exclaimed joyously when she got the robot to hover over the ground. In the next instant she flung her arms around Serix’s neck, pulling him into a tight embrace. He tensed up in surprise, his mind reeling. He wasn’t sure how to respond. Should he return the gesture or let his arms hang by his sides? Why was she even doing this? Cassie didn’t give him time to react. She let him go again and returned her attention to the hovering machine. Serix just blinked at her, still shaken from her spontaneous embrace. Silence dragged on between them for a short while before Cassie spoke again. **“Do... you want to try and drive it?”** She sounded oddly subdued compared to her bubbling excitement just moments before. Serix covered up his discomfort with a wry grin and a sarcastic roll of his eyes, “Do you even have to ask?” He stepped over to her and held out a hand for the control, “Just show me what to do, Captain.”

Cassie smiled when he rolled his eyes at her sarcastically and laughed when he responded with that snarky tone that, despite would have likely annoyed anyone else, left her happy. Nodding, she handed the remote to him, placing it in his outstretched hand. Once he took it, she moved closer to point to all the controls on the remote, speaking about each one as she pointed to it, "Okay, it's pretty simple. You use the joystick here to change it's direction, you press this green button to turn it on, use the red to turn it off. Oh, and the blue button over here is what you press if you want it to hover in place." Once she had explained all that to him, she took a step back, nodding to the robot that was now sitting back on the ground, ready to go fly again when he would begin the controls, "Try not to crash it. I mean, it's a pretty tough little robot, but I still would like to not have to fix something on it again if something happened to break on it." After spending that long in working on, she would have hated for something to get broken on it so soon to the point she would have to end up fixing it all over again. She stood beside him, carefully looking over at him, that small smile back on her face once more, "Well, what are you waiting for? I know you're dying to test it out, so give it a shot."

Serix took the controls from Cassie and started up the robot, obeying her simple instructions. The machine whirred to life and rose shakily above the ground. He could clearly see that Cassie was better at operating the device than he was. He would just have to spend some time practicing with the various robots she fixed up. “This is amazing,” Serix said. He tried to keep his voice level with mature intrigue, but he couldn’t stop the note of excitement that slipped into his tone. He cleared his throat in a weak attempt to cover it up. “Your father designed such simple controls for a complex machine. It’s ingenious how user-friendly it is. In my society, technology like this can only be used by trained professionals and there would be dozens more buttons and dials to manipulate.” After a while, he carefully brought the robot down for a landing and shut it off again, handing the remote back to Cassie, “Well, I’m satisfied.” He grinned at her and then looked around at the room, taking on a contemplative expression. “You know, this underground hideout seems pretty huge, but I’ve only seen three or four rooms.” He turned back to Cassie and smiled again. “You know this place much better than I do. Mind giving me a tour?”

Cassie smiled at him and nodded when he asked if she could show him around, "Sure. I checked out all of the rooms when I first got here. A lot of them are pretty much empty, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to show you all the rooms anyway." She walked out of the hanger with him and started to open doors to show him each room as she spoke, "Basically you know which one the bedroom is, you know the storage room with all our food and stuff. Of course there's the generator room. The bathroom. All the rest are pretty much empty though or have scrap metal." She opened up room after room, letting him see what she was talking about, getting to the last room, opening the door to let him see the room full of scrap metal, "See? Nothing but pretty much junk in here." She kicked a rather large pile of boxes full of the scrap metal, thinking she hadn't kicked it hard enough to do anything to it, only when she did, the huge pile began to waver, "Uh-oh." She moved back with him just in time as the pile fell and she gave an embarrassed smile, "Well, I guess that goes to prove I'm not the most graceful person around. Or graceful at all really. I'm kind of clumsy actually." She joked, before she stepped forward, confusion on her face. "Hey." She said, climbing over some of the fallen boxes to look at one of the walls of the room better, "There's a door here. I didn't see this when I walked through here before. But why is it hidden behind these boxes?" She looked back at him, though of course, knowing he couldn't give her the answer, began to push the boxes out of the way of the hidden door before it was completely visible, "Seems like its got the same scanner lock as the hanger has." Placing her hand against the door, she watched as it slid open, walking inside with him, looking around. There wasn't much in the very small closet type room, just three boxes that were taped up. She walked over to one of them, bending down, and taking out her pocket knife, but it open, only to have a deep frown on her face slowly pulling out the contents, "This....is my parents stuff. They must have brought it here just in case they needed to hid here...." She pulled out a few things. Changes of clothes. Books. Even toys they had brought there for her to play with. She swallowed hard, a silent struggle coming over her momentarily before she covered it up, quickly putting the thing back into the box, not even daring to open the other boxes, "Let's go eat. I'm hungry." She said simply, though as she closed up the box again and stood up, she turned to see the keypad on the door flickering, making her confused, and then, much to her shock, the lights went out all together, the door slamming shut. She gasped, wide eyes as she stepped over to it, trying to force it open, her breath growing uneven once again as her mind raced at the thought of them being trapped in this room, "No, no, no, no!" She stopped trying to force the door open and instead, knelt down, her hands covering her ears in panic, her eyes shutting tightly as she tried to block out the fact they were trapped in this space, though it wasn't working very good. Her sobs began now and her body trembled as she closed in on herself where she sat.

Serix walked in step with Cassie as she guided him around the storage, showing him different rooms. As she said, most of them were empty or filled with boxes and junk. Very few were furnished as living spaces. As they walked, he did his best to make a mental plan of the hallways, just in case he ever needed it in the future. **“See? Nothing but pretty much junk in here,”** Cassie said as they entered the last room. Piles of scrap metal and boxes littered the floor. She approached a rather precarious looking stack that leaned up against a wall and nudged it with the toe of her shoe. The boxes wobbled and then crashed to the ground just as Cassie jumped out of the way. She looked at him with a sheepish grin, **“Well, I guess that goes to prove I’m not the most graceful person around… or graceful at all really. I’m kind of clumsy actually.”** “It’s a wonder you’ve survived this long on your own,” Serix replied with a sarcastic shrug. He then noticed the hidden door at the same time Cassie did. He carefully navigated his way around the jumble of overturned boxes to join her as she scanned her hand to open the door. It slid aside to reveal a small, nearly bare space. Three sealed boxes sat by the back wall. “What’s that?” Serix asked, leaning forward to look over Cassie’s shoulder as she knelt beside one of the containers. She pulled out her tiny pocket knife and tentatively cut along the edges of the clear sealant. When that was done, she opened the top to reveal an assortment of various objects. It didn’t look like anything special to Serix, but Cassie’s voice was heavy with emotion when she spoke again, **“This... is my parents’ stuff. They must have brought it here just in case they needed to hide here...”** She trailed off as she pulled out each object in turn, handling them all as carefully as though they might break at the slightest touch. Serix watched her in silence. A strange mix of emotions churned in his stomach as Cassie examined her parents’ things. He felt a bittersweet happiness that she had an opportunity like this, but at the same time, he was frustrated that he had nothing from his own deceased parents. It was customary that when his people died, their possessions were all returned to the ownership of the higher powers to be redistributed according to their will. Such was the case with his mother and father. Serix had nothing left but their memory. After a moment, Cassie returned the items to the box and sealed them away again. **“Let’s go eat. I’m hungry.”** She stood up and turned for the door. Serix was about to follow her, but in the next instant, the lights flickered out and the door slammed shut. His eyes widened in shock. Something must have malfunctioned in the system. They were trapped. _Cassie._ Serix remembered her fear of closed, dark spaces. He whirled around, trying to make out her form in the darkness. His eyes were still adjusting to the abrupt change in lighting, but he could see just enough to find her standing next to the door. **“No, no, no, no!”** Cassie was crying out as she tried to pry the door open with her hands. It was no use. Serix saw her shadowy figure sink to the floor as she dropped to her knees. Violent sobs wracked her body. She was having a mental breakdown. “Hey,” Serix said gently, kneeling down beside her. He took her wrists and coaxed her hands down from her ears. Then, he wrapped one arm around her waist and held her close, trying to ignore the pounding of his own heart when he did so. He took one of her hands in his. “It’s going to be all right. I’m right here, okay?” They had to get out of here somehow, and Cassie was the only one who knew anything about electronic wiring. She had to calm down or they really would be trapped forever. “Cassie, do you remember what I told you last time?” Serix went on in a hushed tone. “Focus on me. Feel how steady my breathing is. Try to match it, okay?” He held her close to his side and closed his eyes, taking slow breaths. If she could get her heartrate down, Cassie might be able to gather her thoughts. Stopping her from hyperventilating could be the best way to do that. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Serix asked, gently running his thumb over her hand.

Cassie had blocked everything out for a moment, covering her eyes and having her eyes closed tightly as she knelled there, but it didn't help much. Even if she managed to block it out, she still knew where she was and that she was trapped in this tight space, just like the day of the invasion. Her parents putting her in that small dark room, the young girl hearing her parent's screams. This was too much like it. Her sobs continued, her body trembling and when she felt someone take her wrists, a small scream escaped her lips, in a split second fighting with the person until she opened her eyes and saw it was Serix. He was here. She wasn't in that hidden room of the house as her parents died. Her sobs continued to rack through her body and she allowed herself to be pulled against him, hugging him tightly and burying her face against his neck as her crying continued. She listened to his gentle voice, his soft words, slowly breaking through beyond the panic that left her heart racing. She tried to do as he said, focusing on him. Without his glowing eyes and him holding her close it might have been hard. But with him holding her so close, it was almost in dong so he was smothering out the cramped darkness, allowing her to block out the situation better than she had curling in on herself moments before, "J-just stay with me....please...." She answered quietly, nuzzling herself as close as she could to him. Hearing his breathing and feeling his chest rise and fall with his, she managed to try and match it. It took a moment to get the fast paced breaths to get to that slow speed, but soon she had it down, taking careful breaths, trying to get there thoughts together. This wasn't the invasion. No one was killing anyone. She could get out. She just had to fix something. She could do that right? Maybe. She hoped. A few minute passed and by this time, her breathing was a little steadier and her sobs had stops so that only a few silent tears were escaping. She was still shaking, a nervous and still a small amount of panic to them, but was much calmer than she had minutes before. Pulling back just a little bit to look at him, then she looked to the door through the darkness, trying to continue to keep her breathing matched with his, she continued, "I need to find tools....my dad might have packed some?" She was sure he did. Her father never went anywhere without tools. It was just who he was. There was sure to be some. She paused for a moment though, still wrapped up in his grasp and so close to him. It left her heart skipping a beat, and now with her calmer and her mind not obsessed with being trapped, she was all too aware of them holding one another so closely. And next, she did something that even she herself wasn't expecting. She, in a rather quick movement, pressed a short kiss to his cheek, "Thank you Serix..." Then, just as quickly as she had done that, she had gotten out of his grasp, heading to the boxes to go through them, her cheeks more red than they had probably ever been, her mind racing with what she had just done out of instinct without even realizing or thinking about it. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment before opening the boxes, trying to sort through all of this in her head.

Serix waited with Cassie in the dark. He could feel her straining to calm her breathing beside him. It was a slow and arduous process, but she was making progress. He continued to support her by pressing her close to his side. He hoped she couldn’t feel his racing heart. While he was somehow managing to calm Cassie down, he was having a hard time of doing the same for himself. In spite of himself, Serix leaned his head against Cassie’s as she buried her face into his neck. Her breath was warm against his skin. He found it increasingly difficult to stay focused on the situation at hand. Even though she was huddled against him, he wanted to pull her closer. The intensity of the emotion frightened him. What exactly _did_ he feel for Cassie? Cassie eventually pulled away from him, just enough so she could meet his eyes. **“I need to find tools... my dad might have packed some?”** she said slowly. She was rationalizing again. This was a good sign, but Serix also felt a pang of disappointment when she put that small amount of distance between them. He didn’t want her to leave yet. _What’s wrong with me?_ he closed his eyes. _I should be happy that she’s recovering. We can get out of here soon and—_ His thought was cut short when he felt something that made his heart skip a beat. Cassie had planted a kiss on his cheek. She murmured her thanks and pulled away from his grasp, leaving him staring, wide-eyed, at the ghost of where she had just been. Serix brought a hand to his cheek where her lips had touched. His face was hot and he realized he was grinning stupidly. He quickly wiped the expression off his face, as if Cassie were able to see it through the pitch black of the room, and stood up to join her as she searched through the boxes of her parents’ things. He had to remind himself that she hadn’t meant anything by the kiss. It was a gesture of gratitude, nothing more… wasn’t it? Maybe it was a normal way for a human to thank someone… but that didn’t make sense. Cassie had always been uncomfortable with physical contact before. Perhaps kissing didn’t mean to humans what it did to Lunairans, then? That was a disappointing thought. He shook his head. It didn’t matter. Neither of them was seeking that kind of intimacy. They just had to survive. “D-do you see anything helpful?” Serix inwardly cursed himself for stammering and laying bare his discomfort. So much for keeping _that_ a secret...

Cassie opened up one of the boxes, beginning to pull things out. She tried to not linger on each item, but it was somewhat hard not to, making it take a little longer than she would have liked searching for these tools. As she went through the things, she had to keep reminding herself to stay calm and keep her breathing steady. It wasn’t hard for her to do this surprising, especially knowing Serix was in the room with her. That made her think back to what she had just done. Why had she kissed him on the cheek like that? She remembered her mother doing that often to her father and her father would return it with a kiss on the forehead. So, why had she just done such a thing to Serix? She hadn’t even thought anything when she did it, it was just instinctive to kiss him on the cheek like that. In a way, the ways that she and Serix acted around each other, with their teasing and carrying ways that they treated each other, they indeed reminded her of the way her parents and other human couples had treated each other. So….what did that make she and Serix? And how did she feel for him really? Were they just fellow survivors? Or….did she feel something else for him? Did she…love him? The thought of feeling something like that for someone and being in that kind of a relationship in this type of world was something that scared her. Hearing him speak to her, she was brought away from her thoughts one more, her cheeks a bright red, though impossible to see in the dark, and hearing his stammering and knowing that was caused by her making her nervous, she cursed herself silently. Of course her doing something like that would make him uncomfortable. How could she have been so stupid to have tried something like that? Yes they were on good terms, but that didn’t mean he felt the same that she felt for him. He probably didn’t. She would have to be more careful to hide that from now on and keep her distance so she didn’t make him uncomfortable like that again. She glanced over to his figure in the dark and shook her head, “N…not yet. I still have two more boxes to go through though.” With that, she set to work going through the other two boxes and she was relieved that in the last box there was indeed a tool box. She sighed and nodded, dragging it over to the door and opening it up. Pulling out a flashlight, she spoke to him again, “Can you hold this for me so I can see the wires?” When he was doing like she said, she went to woke, struggling to keep her hands steady and from shaking. Taking slow and steady breaths like he was doing helped and after a good ten minutes of clipping wires and putting them back together, the lights began to flicker again and the door slid open. She was quick to get up and move out of the room with him, taking in a deep breath and leaning against the wall, smiling slightly, “We did it. We’re out.”

To Serix, Cassie’s voice rang with as much uncertainty as his own. But maybe that was his fault. Her discomfort was probably caused by his reaction to the kiss. He hoped he hadn’t offended her in any way. They were finally getting along so well. He didn’t want to ruin that by putting more distance between them again. If anything, he wanted to close the gap completely. But what exactly did that mean for their relationship? Serix felt his heartrate pick up. If he was honest with himself, it almost seemed like he wanted her to be his _mate_. He hadn’t really thought about it before, but leaving the rest of his people meant he was also leaving their customs… prearranged relationships included. He could make his own decisions about who he wanted as a mate. The newfound freedom made him ecstatic, but it also left a weight in the pit of his stomach. Even if he chose Cassie, would she do the same for him? The freedom of choice went both ways, after all. She had every right to refuse him. …But what about her kiss? It definitely seemed like she cared for him in the same way that he did for her. Or maybe he was just seeing it how he wanted. Maybe she really was just showing her gratitude and he was overthinking the whole thing… but there was always a chance it was something more. He wished he had a way to confirm her feelings. He was pulled from his thoughts when the lights came back on and the door slid open. Cassie wasted no time in getting out of the small room. She leaned heavily against the wall and turned to look at him with a smile weak with relief, **“We did it. We’re out.”** “_‘We’_ did it?” Serix echoed incredulously as he stepped out of the room. “I didn’t do anything. You were the one who fixed the wires.” He shrugged, busying himself by looking through some more old boxes in the larger room. “If you ask me, I think I was pretty useless— oh?” Among all of the junk in the containers, he found a strange looking machine. He pulled it out and set it on the floor, looking curiously back at Cassie. “What’s this?”

Cassie smiled at him when he mentioned that it was her who had done it and that he had felt pretty useless in their situation, “You weren’t useless Serix. If anything, it’s thanks to you we got out. If you hadn’t been able to calm me down we would have been stuck in that room forever.” Walking over to the boxes he was going through, she began picking through some of the junk as well to see if there was anything she could use, and as she stood there, she could still feel her body trembling and her heart racing from being stuck in that room. Maybe she could sleep it off? “I think I might go lay down for a little while. Then after that I can work on some of the other robots again.” She looked to him when she heard him ask what something was and rose an eyebrow to see what he was holding up. Walking over she took it from him, “It’s a CD player.” Opening it up, she saw there was an old CD in it and continued “It plays music off of these disks. It doesn’t really surprise me they had one of these in here. My mother loved music and would pull him into listening to it with her or dancing with her. That kind of thing.” She motioned for him to follow him and walked with him to the hanger, plugging it in on one of the many outlets and sat next to it, pressing play. She listened to the music, trying to let it calm her nerves, speaking, “See? Every human had one of these. They were pretty common.”

Serix looked at the machine with new interest. It played music? Of course, it didn’t surprise him that the humans would listen to music. They seemed similar enough to the Lunairans that he would have been more shocked if they didn’t have it. What really piqued his interest was the question of what human music sounded like. Would it be the same as what he was familiar with, or would it be completely foreign to his ears? He got up and followed Cassie to the robot hangar, eager to hear what the machine would play. She plugged the CD player into a wall and started it up. After a moment, the sound of lilting music filled the room. Serix crouched next to the little machine, listening intently. The music was definitely strange compared to what his people created, but when he focused a bit harder, he could hear some similar patterns. The song carried a steady four-count beneath layers of polyrhythmic harmonies. He thought back to what Cassie said about her mother’s love of song and dance. It was a very typical passion among Lunairan females. All children were given lessons in dance as part of their schooling, but he remembered how his female peers were especially fond of twirling about with their partners. They were eager to master the art to impress their future mates during courting rituals. The fleeting thought of courting set Serix’s heart to pounding again. Looking back, he and Cassie had already gone through with many of the rituals without even meaning to. They had spent plenty of time alone, they had exchanged stories of their pasts, they had held hands and embraced each other, and they had –briefly– shared a telepathic link. He hadn’t realized just how far their relationship had progressed. Serix glanced at Cassie. She looked like she was still pretty shaken up after being locked in that small room for so long. He shifted his weight uncomfortably. He wanted to do something to help her recover, but he wasn’t sure what. He looked back at the CD player, with its steady stream of music. Maybe there was something he could do. “Dance with me,” Serix said, standing up and holding out a hand to Cassie. He looked down at the ground, fidgeting bashfully. “The style is a little different than what I’m used to, but I can cope. So… will you dance with me?”

As the music played, Cassie sat in one of the near by chairs, listening to the music, lost in her own thoughts. She had, after a little while, closed her eyes, picturing back to her parents when she had been young. How they would sit in the living room, and her mother would essentially pull her father to his feet and laughing the two would dance around. Sometimes her father would even pull Cassie herself up and set her on his feet, having a father daughter dance with her. Those memories were some of her most cherished. She wondered if she would get to show those memories to Serix if their mental connection ever got stronger when they linked telepathically. **“Dance with me,”** Cassie opened up her eyes, looking up at Serix a little wide eyed when she heard those words leave his map. Her cheeks redden to a rosy color and there was no hiding it this time. She was still trying to wrap her head around him asking her that and even he himself was bashful, not meeting her gaze as he spoke again, ** “The style is a little different than what I’m used to, but I can cope. So… will you dance with me?”** What was she supposed to say to that? It left her heart pounding and her hands trembling, but this time it wasn't from her thoughts of being in that room. It was from the thought of being so close to him and dancing with him. "I-I..." Now it was her turn to stammer and be flustered. Her nervousness was very prominent. She didn't really know how to dance. Other than those few ties of her dancing with her father as a little girl, she had never danced with anymore before, nor had she learned how to do so. Wouldn't it be better to say no and not embarrass herself in her stumbling about than to say yes and trip over herself as well as step all over her feet? Maybe. So, when he said that, her cheeks still red she shook her head, holding up her hands, "N-no. I don't really know how to dance. I'd just step all over you and make a fool of myself." Yet, next thing she knew, she was being pulled to her feet from her seat, her eyes wide and her face growing redder, "Serix! What are you doing?"

**“N-no,”** Cassie stammered holding up her hands. **“I don’t really know how to dance. I’d just step all over you and make a fool of myself.”** Serix’s unease began to fade when he saw Cassie’s cheeks turn rosy. She was even more flustered than he was. “Come on,” he rolled his eyes. “It’s not that hard, I promise.” He caught her wrists and lifted her to her feet, ignoring her startled protests. In one smooth motion, he repositioned himself so he had one hand on her waist and the other holding her hand out in front of them. Their close proximity set his heart to racing once again, but he covered it up by flashing her a mischievous grin. “Just follow my lead, okay?” Serix said. He started slowly, taking the song at half-pace so Cassie could easily adjust to his rhythm. Using subtle touches and directional changes with his arms, he guided her fluidly through the motions, making gentle corrections if she stumbled. He carried on at this slow speed until he felt her grow more confident, then he steadily increased their pace to match the actual beat of the music. “I’m going to spin you now,” he said. “Ready?” He gave her one four-count to prepare, and then lifted her hand in his, passing their arms over Cassie’s head and spinning her through the arc. He pulled her back and replaced his hand on her waist, grinning at her teasingly. “See? It’s not so bad. Especially if you have someone who knows how to lead properly.” The tempo of the music slowed, so Serix slowed with it. He altered his movements to a more graceful rhythm, adding more twirling to the sequences. Watching Cassie dance gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling. She really was beautiful, with her flowing golden hair and lithe, agile figure. He spun her again, and in that moment, he felt a pang of longing stronger than any of the others he had felt until this point. He wanted her. In spite of everything –logic, reason, understanding– he _wanted_ her. Before he knew what he was doing, Serix pulled Cassie back from the spin and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, closing his eyes and pressing his lips to hers. The kiss was sweet. He trembled, weak with relief. He had closed the gap between them at last… _What am I doing?_ The rational part of his mind took over, smothering his passion. He pulled away, breathless, his cheeks burning and his eyes wide with shock. “I-I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I don’t know what came over me… I just… I’m sorry.”

Cassie tried to protest more after her took her wrists and pulled her to her feet, saying it wasn't hard and to follow his lead. And, she had to admit, that once they had started dancing, she was kind of enjoying it. It was very patient with her, even with the couple of times she had managed to step on her foot or get off beat. Once she got off the nervousness she was actually pretty good at dancing. Graceful and falling into step quicker than she had thought. Maybe she had more of her mother in her than she thought? Well whatever it was, she found herself smiling as they two stepped together and even laughed when he said he was going to spin her. She nodded and passed under his arm, giggling the whole time, "Not so bad indeed. Probably because I do have such an amazing dance partner." Sooner than she thought the music had slowed and she fell into pace with him once more, her cheeks reddening slightly and her heart racing as things seemed to get more intimate than she thought, and rather quickly. She looked up at him, her heart pounding harder as her eyes met his, blue eyes looking into his bright violet ones as they moved, twirling along with him, only something changed when he spun her one last time. Instead of placing his hand back on her waist, hi arm went around her waist, pulling her so tightly to him that she could feel his heart beating against her own. Next thing she knew, his lips were pressed against hers, causing her to gasp in surprise under his lips, her face heating up. She wasn't sure what to do at first, but what she did know was that pressed so close to him and his lips moving against her own, it just felt _right_. Like this was how it was meant to be. She was about to close her eyes and kiss him back, only he left the kiss too quickly. He seemed just as flustered as she was, his own pale cheeks as red as hers was and to her, it made her feel better, almost more comfortable about all of this. He was just as nervous about all of this as she was, and it was okay. Seeing this, she found herself smiling and shaking her head as she laughed softly at his apologies, "Don't be." Then, it was her turn to kiss him. She pressed her hands to his cheeks, standing on her tiptoes to press her lips against his, smiling under his lips.

Serix was sure he had just made the biggest mistake of his life. Cassie would surely hate him now. His actions were completely uncalled for, and he put them both in an awkward position. He just ruined everything with his lack of self-control. She would probably want him to leave, to find someplace else to hide or to return to his own people. Serix was so prepared for her anger, that he didn’t expect her to do what she did next. He froze when Cassie reached to take his face in her hands and lifted her lips to meet his. His mind reeled. She wasn’t mad? And… she was reciprocating his feelings? He couldn’t have hoped for a better response. After the initial shock of her kiss faded, he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her again, pulling her closer. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he kissed her back. Nothing else mattered anymore. There were no Scouts searching to kill them, no coming Lunairan invasion. In that moment, he and Cassie were the only two people that existed in the universe. He ran a hand through her soft hair, holding her lips against his, not wanting them to ever part again. He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. One minute? Ten? Time blurred into something unrecognizable. After a bit, Serix pulled away, catching his breath. His arm lingered around Cassie’s waist, holding her close to him. He didn’t want to let go just yet. With his other hand, he brushed a stray lock of hair from her face. He stared into her deep blue eyes for a moment, feeling her heart pound against his, then he kissed her once more on the forehead and laughed, “You have no idea how long I wanted to do that.”

Cassie smiled at him when they finally did pull apart, her heart pounding against his and when he kissed her forward, she just felt like everything was right in the world. They were both where they were meant to be and with who they were meant to be with. She couldn't believe that all of this happiness could have come from her being kidnapped and almost killed and him disobeying his orders in order to help her. They were no longer fellow survivors just trying to make it out in this crazy and unforgiving world, they were a complete team now. She brushed softly when he brushed a strand of hair from her face and smiled up at him with a small smile, "Really? Because I've been waiting for that for a long while as well." As happy as she had been in a while, she reached up to nuzzle her forehead against his, giggling softly, "Guess this makes you one of those 'human sympathizers' huh?" Looking up at him again, she brushed his dark bangs from his eyes, "Serix? Promise me something, okay? Promise me that we will both get out of this together." After she said that, she felt her stomach growl and laughed, "Well, I guess we forgot to get something to eat after we were stuck in that room. How about we go grab something before bed? Holding his hand gently in hers, she tugged him out of the room and into the food storage room to go through some of the cans. She found herself a can of soup and let him pick whatever it was he wanted before the two sat down. She sipped silently on the soup for a moment before she looked back at him, "Serix. When did your feelings for me start to change? I mean...at first you seemed to think of me as some inferior human. And...now we are where we're at. When did it start to shift like that?"